Web Seminars Contributed by EDUCAUSE and Privacy Policies

On April 16, 2007, a Virginia Tech student shot and killed 32 faculty and students and wounded 25 others before killing himself in an academic building on campus. The university is still dealing with the aftermath of the incident and expects it to be an ongoing concern for the foreseeable future. This session will encapsulate summaries of the IT-related lessons learned including the impact on the university's communication system; the notification issue; radio communications interoperability; the sheer logistics of accommodating the communications infrastructure and control center needs for a variety of emergency responders and law enforcement; identity management and privacy; and data preservation and computer forensics. Overriding all of these issues is the question of federal, state, and local policies and ways in which policy issues were encountered, confronted, and managed.

In light of recent incidents, and with another school year now under way, it’s a good time to remind ourselves of our obligations—and rights—under FERPA, the federal statute that governs the privacy of student records and information. Here’s what we’ll cover:

• FERPA 101: The purpose and basic structure of FERPA
• FERPA 201: FERPA’s most important exceptions
• FERPA 301: The metaphysics of FERPA in the electronic world

Security offices have always had occasional interactions with law enforcement either in the course of an investigation or through the need to respond to legal instruments. With the professionalization of hacking and the increased attention electronic communications receive with regard to national security, many security professionals find themselves working regularly with the FBI and other law enforcement agencies. By having a positive and professional relationship with law enforcement, it is possible both to protect the privacy of your institution's community and to minimize the disruptive impact legally driven investigations can have. This presentation will offer practical recommendations based on experience.

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is the first comprehensive federal law protecting the privacy and security of health information. This program will provide both an overview of the HIPAA privacy and security standards, as well as a survey of hot topics affecting academic institutions in their implementation and operation of HIPAA compliance programs.