Work Safely with Restricted Data

PHOTO: UF Health staff member managing medical school lab work. University of Florida.

Restricted data refers to data collected, maintained, or managed by the university or through any university activities that are restricted by special protections from federal or state laws, regulatory mandates, or contractual obligations. Improperly working with, storing of, or transmitting restricted data could result in the revocation of research certifications, university business partnerships, and federal and state grants. In addition to the legal liabilities and financial obligations placed on individual employees and the university, a breach or misuse of restricted data would negatively impact UF’s reputation.

Types of restricted data are listed here. They include, but are not limited to, student records (FERPA), protected health information (HIPAA), Social Security numbers and credit card information, and export controlled data (ITAR).

All faculty and staff are required to annually complete the Information Security Awareness training, which includes a section on working with restricted data. UF’s Mobile Computing and Storage Devices Policy explains security and encryption standards required for devices operating with restricted data. UFIT’s Integrated Risk Management team is available to help clarify data classifications and the technologies and tools cleared for use with restricted data. Anyone in the UF community with questions is welcome to email irm-uf@ufl.edu.