Stop! Think before you share customer data

Today, personal data is more important than ever. Lots of organizations collect information while doing business, and that means if those organizations get hacked, that customer info gets exposed to the world.

Your smarts, though, can make a difference and help protect those people who trust you with their data. Let’s talk about protecting personal and customer information.

First, it’s important to know what you can and can’t collect. You can usually find that information within your department training program and policies.  You should also be familiar with the university policy on data classification and information technology standards located at below web link.  Being familiar with the types of data such as private or restricted and how to properly identify, store, transmit, and destroy will help ensure compliance, keep data secure, and keep you out of trouble.

https://campus.und.edu/campus-services/uit/cio/policies.html

Some ways you can help protect personal or sensitive data is to utilize secure means of transmitting such as UND Liquid Files (https://sendfiles.ndus.edu/message/new), or via VPN connection, controlling access to data by limiting to only those with need to know, not storing private or restricted data on your local hard drive, and deleting data when no longer needed.

Second, be aware of possible trouble. Some data, like email addresses, seems harmless enough, but it can be exploited by a scammer. If someone approaches you and asks for personal or customer information, you’ll be the first line of security between an innocent person and someone wanting to steal their identity.  It is okay to be suspicious when someone asks for info.

Third, check out our infographic for more great tips on customer data protection.