Best Practices

Click on the statements below to learn more about the best practices for protecting private, personal information.

Store private, personal information only on secure workstations where it is required for business purposes.
Do not save unnecessary files or documents of private, personal information (e.g., draft copies, reports, spreadsheets, intermediate files, etc.).
Do not save copies of private, personal information where unauthorized access could occur.
Do not store data on portable or non-secure systems, such as: laptops, PDAs, personal computers, or removable media such as thumb drives, CDs, or floppy disks. If you must store private, personal information for business purposes, ensure it is encrypted.

Dispose of files or documents containing private, personal information in accordance with record retention policies.
Shred confidential documents containing private, personal information when no longer needed.
Promptly dispose of files containing private, personal information from your computer hard drive when no longer needed.

Included are two additional resources for accessing, handling, and protecting University administrative data. It is recommended that you print, read, and refer to these resources as necessary.

Data Administration Guidelines for Institutional Data Resources, www.mais.umich.edu/access/policies.html
Safe Computing www.safecomputing.umich.edu