What is Data Privacy Day?  

We share information when we socialize, work, text, make calls, shop, bank, browse the web, read online, and study.   Data Privacy Day was designed to promote awareness about the many ways personal information is collected, stored, used, and shared, and education about privacy practices that will enable individuals to protect their personal information.  We've created a display outside of the Technology Helpdesk in Swenson 1061 to show some of the ways you can keep your personal information safe.

What is Technology Services doing to help protect our data privacy on campus?   

• Keep a Clean Machine - All campus computers have antivirus software on them to prevent viruses, malware and other online threats.  Free antivirus software is available on our website for all student, faculty and staff personal computers.  
• Protect Your Personal Information - Our campus security settings require a password between 8 and 14 characters with a combination of letters and numbers.  We recommend changing your password regularly.
• Connect with Care - We've taken measures to secure your personal information - financial information, class schedules, work processes - within E-Hive by making it a secure site ("https://").
• Be Web Wise - Technology Services blocks over 100,000 SPAM messages per day, we continually update our blocking tools with industry standard updates.  Email and online storage (G: Drive) is backed up every night to a secondary site.  
  

How can we do our parts?  

Consider doing some of the following to protect your personal information:

• Avoid sharing certain personal information publicly including: your date of birth, home address, phone numbers, social security number, financial information, and travel plans.
• When in doubt, throw it out - if you receive emails that implore you to act immediately, offer something that sounds too good to be true, or asks for personal information (passwords, account numbers, etc.) do not respond, delete the email.  Use your favorite search engine to search your name and see what kind of information comes up about you.
• If you use social networking sites, learn about the privacy settings and use them to control how you share personal information and to define your audience.
• If you have a smart phone, understand that the phone contains a host of personal information about you and secure it with a strong passcode or other privacy feature.
• Use location based services and features with care, understanding who has access to the information about your whereabouts when you "check in" to various places.