Faculty & Staff

It is against University policy to conduct School business with third-party, non-Columbia e-mail accounts. This includes using an email account, such as Gmail or hotmail, as your de facto work e-mail, or even forwarding your Columbia e-mail to an outside e-mail provider. (See full policy)

1. The reasons for this policy are simple, but the
   penalties for noncompliance are not:
   As an institution that has been entrusted with public
   data, Columbia is legally obligated to ensure that our
   data is secure. While we can secure our internal e-mail
   systems, we have no control whatsoever over the
   security of third-party providers, which makes the risk of
   using them unacceptable. In fact, in the event of a data
   breach with an outside e-mail client like Google, the
   University/School is subject to financial penalties for not
   properly storing and policing sensitive e-mail
   data. Worse, the faculty/staff person who sent and/or
   received the confidential data on that outside system
   is subject not only to University action, but to CIVIL
   PROSECUTION by the government. As such,
   compliance with this policy actually protects you.
2. Some grantors (for example NIH) specify that no grant-related data be stored offshore from the US. However, currently most outside e-mail providers store data in world-wide data farms, and so far, refuse to agree to a strict domestic data storage arrangement. So, use of these e-mail systems actually breaks many of our grantor requirements, and puts your hard work and grants at risk.

So, if you are currently using a third party e-mail
system for work purposes, protect yourself by:

1. Switching immediately to your Columbia e-mail account
2. Moving any project-related data from third party providers to a secure Columbia system, such as your O drive.
3. Educating yourself as to the specific data storage requirements of your grants and other data security regulations, and recognize that CU systems are the only systems you can count on to be in compliance.

To make the most of your Columbia e-mail, including accessing additional storage capacity, see: Making the Most of Columbia E-mail.

December 29, 2010