Considering Privacy

October 21, 2021

My current email tagline is “Keep personal information personal. Do not share personal information with anyone who does not need to know and never share it via email, social media, or other means where your privacy cannot be assured.” 

Protecting privacy is becoming increasingly difficult as more of our life moves online. It is also more important than ever. Privacy is a complicated topic with bits and pieces scattered across various national legislative acts, tort law, and a patchwork of privacy legislation emerging through state laws and foreign concerns. But there are a few simple things you can do to keep yourself safe.

At work, remember:

• All private information should be restricted to individuals that need to know. You should use the minimum amount of information necessary to do your job. Never collect or share more information than necessary.
• Just because you have access to information doesn’t mean you have the need to access information. For example, you may have access to academic records for advising purposes. Perhaps a past graduate has achieved celebrity status. Looking up their academic record out of curiosity would be a violation of law and policy. 
• Always protect yourself against shoulder surfing. Keep your monitor out of view of others when accessing private information. Keep private documents out of sight and properly secured.
• Protect your devices. Don’t leave your laptop unattended in an unsecure space or in plain view in your car. Never copy private information to removeable hard drives or USB storage.
• Always be careful with rights management in applications and services. Don’t share private information using links that provide more access than necessary. If you must use email, use encryption when sharing private information.
• Strip or obfuscate private information from email and other documents before sharing or forwarding unless the recipient needs to know. For example, if a person reports they will not be attending a class or meeting due to COVID diagnosis, do not share the diagnosis with others. Simply let folks know that they won’t be attending.
• And finally, report any suspected breaches or privacy violations to the help desk as soon as possible.

Privacy can be much more complicated in your private life. Many of us enjoy sharing via social media. We share pieces of our life: photos from a vacation or a first day of school. We want to share information about our health and want to support others facing challenges. These activities provide a way to make our digital lives more personal and bring a sense of community to a virtual world. It is a balancing act and you get to make the decisions. But remember, you can only make the decision for yourself. Never share information about others without their knowledge and permission.

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