Journal #2

The ABCs of Privacy Practices for Educators. By Melissa J. Dark, Clewin McPherson, and Joanne Troutner

This article talks about how much confidential information is lost due to stolen, lost, or misplaced PDAs, flash drives, and laptops. Over the past year, this number has steadily increased. School administrators and teachers need to consider ways in which they can protect the information they handle on a daily basis. Which is what “Welcome to the ABCs of privacy practices,” is all about.


1) Asset Identification and Classification
-The asset you are trying to protect is private information
-The next step is Classification, which is applying confidentiality
requirements to your information
-These 2 steps are mandatory in laying the foundation of what needs to be
protected

2) Building Privacy Policies
-A written statement that says how an organization will handle the information
it gathers and uses
-This sanctions allowable uses, and non-allowable uses

3) Choosing Technologies that Enforce Policies
-The most effective tools for privacy protection are authentication, access
control, and cryptography (authentication – who can enter a specific system,
access control – verifies the I.D. of the user, and then allows or denies them
access, cryptography – “hidden writing” to enhance confidentiality and
secrecy

4) Windows Operating System
-Files and folders can be encrypted by the operating system
Office Application
-Also possible to encrypt a file
Third-Party Encryption Tools
-allow for the encrypting of files and folders, and entire drives

5) Putting It Together
-The technologies you use should be able to enforce your privacy policies
with regard to the information you are trying to protect and where that
information is stored

*What are some good obvious guidelines for selecting a good password?
Password should always be more than 8 characters in length. Letters and numbers should
always be used together. They should be put together from things that you will be sure to remember, but not easy for others to remember

*What kind of information can be stolen and what are some things that can happen if private educational information gets in the wrong hands?
Lost financial information could result in identity theft, among other things. Private information about students can lead to an invasion of privacy and embarrassment. Phone numbers and home addresses can get out, and also emergency contact records and private medical conditions.