Secure Data Handling Policy

Version 1.5

For Students, Faculty, Staff, Guests, Alumni

Purpose

The purpose of this policy is to ensure the protection of the University’s IT Resources against unauthorized use, accidental or malicious damage, and theft.

Scope

This IT policy, and all policies referenced herein, shall apply to all members of the University community, including faculty, students, administrative officials, staff, alumni, authorized guests, delegates, and independent contractors (the “User(s)” or “you”) who use, access, or otherwise employ, locally or remotely, the University’s IT Resources, whether individually controlled, shared, stand-alone, or networked.

Policy Statement

  • Fordham Protected Data, Fordham Sensitive Data, or Public Data must be stored or transmitted per the Data Classification and Protection PolicyData Classification GuidelinesData at Rest Policy, or the Data in Transit Policy.
  • Protection measures must be taken and maintained to prevent unauthorized or unlawful disclosure of University data. Protection measures are based on data classification and include, but are not limited to, the following:
    • Physical access control (e.g., controlled access to buildings, rooms, data centers, storage, and media disposal).
    • Technical control (e.g., configurations, administrative access, restricted access based on role or authority).

Definitions

IT Resources include computing, networking, communications, application, telecommunications systems, infrastructure, hardware, software, data, databases, personnel, procedures, physical facilities, cloud-based vendors, Software as a Service (SaaS) vendors, and any related materials and services.

Related Policies and Procedures

Implementation Information

Review Frequency: Triennial
Responsible Person: Senior Director of IT Security Operations and Assurance 
Approved By: CISO
Approval Date: May 16, 2017

Revision History

Version Date Description
1.0 05/16/2017 Initial document
1.0.1 01/09/2019 Updated policy statement
1.2 07/13/2020 Updated policy statement
1.3 07/26/2021 Updated links
1.4 08/01/2022 Updated policy statement
1.5 10/09/2024 Updated policy statement and disclaimer statement

Policy Disclaimer Statement

Deviations from policies, procedures, or guidelines published and approved by Information Security and Assurance (ISA) will only be considered cooperatively between ISA and the requesting entity with sufficient notice to allow for conducting appropriate risk analysis, documentation, review, and notification to authorized University representatives where necessary. Failure to adhere to ISA written policies may be met with University sanctions up to and including dismissal.

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