Who is Handling Sensitive Information?
Every day at MIT, thousands of people handle administrative data of all kinds — personnel and payroll data, student data, medical records and on and on. While many understand fully the sensitivity of the information they handle, they have not always had the procedures and tools needed to safeguard these data. Others simply do not understand the need to take precautions against accidental disclosure of sensitive data. Risks of Disclosure One of the biggest and well-acknowledged problems is the amount of sensitive administrative data that gets sent around campus and between MIT and its business partners in electronic mail attachments, in many cases without the kinds of protection that is possible with today’s technologies. Worse still, much of this data ends up residing on individual laptop and desktop computers for long periods of time in plain sight of anyone with access to that computer. Raising Awareness The need to protect sensitive data, for example the Social Security Number (SSN
