Personally Identifiable Information (PII)
Google Drive (Docs) is an open collaborative work space, which is hosted by Google. It is important to understand that data which you store in your @uwosh.edu Google Drive (Docs) account is not stored in the UW Oshkosh campus data center, but instead in Google's data centers.
Google Drive (Docs) makes it easy for you to collaborate and share documents with others, both @uwosh.edu users and personal Google account users. Because it is easy to share and publish a Google Doc, it becomes easy to mistakenly publish a document, or share it with the wrong person or group. Because it is so easy to mistakenly share or publish data, you as the user must take care to store in Google Drive (Docs), only that information which does not contain Personally Identifiable Information items.
Wisconsin statutes define Personally Identifiable Information as:
- Social Security Number
- Drivers License or State ID Number
- Financial Account Number, including credit or debit card number including PIN or password
- DNA
- An individual's unique biometric data.
Data containing PII should not be stored in Google Drive (Docs).
In addition, the following types of internal institutional data should NOT be stored in Google Drive (Docs):
- FERPA
- HIPAA
- Purchase Orders
- Passwords
- Grant Research Documents
Data Stewards responsible for PII or other institutional data should designate where sensitive information should be stored. Generally, this is in approved folders on the campus Windows File Server (P: drive, S: drive).
