Sensitive Personal Identifying Information (PII) is defined as information that if lost, compromised, or disclosed could result in substantial harm, embarrassment, inconvenience, or unfairness to an individual.
In general terms it is any information that could be used by criminals to conduct identity theft, blackmail, stalking, or other crimes against an individual. Federal and State laws, and University regulations dictate how this information must be stored, transmitted, and processed.
LIU requires that all laws and regulations are followed to ensure the protection and safety of our community. Contact  Information Technology at it@liu.edu for more information about PII.
Sensitive PII include:

• Social security numbers
• Academic Student information
• Date of birth, address, bio-demographical information
• Credit card and debit card information
• Passport information
• Driver’s license and state ID information
• Healthcare related information

Listed below are some key regulations:

• Cyber security framework based on Department of Commerce National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
  A government-issued guideline document of standards, guidelines and practices for reducing cyber risk to critical infrastructure.
• NYS Information Security Breach and Notification Act
  Business in New York who own or license computerized data which includes private information must disclose any breach of the data to New York residents.
• Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)
  All student record data including financials are considered private.
  Examples: Student grades, major, and other academic/financial records
• Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA/HITECH)
  May apply to our clinic sites off campus
• Gramm-Leach Bliley Act (GLBA)
  Federal legislation that deals with banking industry and the exchange of information.
  Example: GLBA applies to LIU since we collect financial information.
• Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS)
  Europay, Mastercard, Visa technical standard (EMV)
  Example: Credit card transactions

Unencrypted email is not a secure method for transmitting confidential information or sensitive data over the Internet. If you have reviewed the information below and determined that it is necessary to send such information, take steps to secure it by encrypting your message, taking into account the sensitivity of the data being transmitted and the level of security at the source and destination systems.
At Long Island University, do not send sensitive data via email unless:

• It is required by your role within the university and you’ve reviewed Your role within the university.
• You’ve reviewed Choosing an appropriate storage solution for more secure alternatives.
• The message either:
  • is encrypted by the Cisco Registered Envelope Service (CRES) and you’ve reviewed Sensitive data sent outside Long Island University, or
  • stays within the LIU email systems (Microsoft Exchange; not LIUmail) and you’ve reviewed Sensitive data sent within Long Island University.

For more about data protection, see Protecting Data.

Your role within the university

You should only send sensitive data via email if it is absolutely required in order to conduct the business function of the university. If you are unsure whether email is appropriate for a particular situation, consult with the university Data Steward in charge of the data involved, as well as with the University Information Policy Office.

Sensitive data sent outside Long Island University

The Cisco Registered Envelope Service (CRES) provides encryption for email sent from LIU mail servers to recipients outside the LIU network. While all outgoing mail is scanned for sensitive data, you should always force encryption of messages you know to contain such information. See What is the Cisco Registered Envelope Service (CRES)? and How can I ensure that mail sent from my Exchange account to an outside address is encrypted by CRES?

Sensitive data sent within Long Island University

Email sent from one account on a central LIU email server (i.e., an Exchange server) to another email account on the LIU Exchange servers has technical and physical safeguards, and is considered secure. However, because a recipient might forward any message you send, or might have his or her LIU email configured to send all messages to an outside account, you should tag all messages containing sensitive data, even ones to LIU addresses, to force encryption; see How can I ensure that mail sent from my Exchange account to an outside address is encrypted by CRES?

Security for large files

If the information you need to send securely is a large file, you might not be able to share it securely via email; LIU restricts the size of email attachments. See At LIU, what is the maximum size of email messages, and how can I send messages that exceed that size?
In these cases, you should use Slashtmp Critical. This service allows you to store sensitive data securely, for a limited time, and share it with specific recipients. See At LIU, what is Slashtmp, and how do I use it? and How do I upload a file larger than 2 GB to Slashtmp?

If you received an email message at your Long Island University account with a subject line that begins “Read:”, followed by the subject line of an email message you sent, that is likely a read receipt for a message encrypted by the Cisco Registered Envelope Service (CRES); see What is the Cisco Registered Envelope Service (CRES)? The read receipt indicates that your recipient has decrypted and read the email message you sent.
If you did not send sensitive data in the message, and did not intend for it to be encrypted, examine your original subject line. If it contains the phrase “secure message” or word “confidential”, CRES will always encrypt it, regardless of content; see How can I ensure that mail sent from my Exchange account to an outside address is encrypted by CRES? Avoid using those words if you do not want your messages to be encrypted.
If you do not want to receive further read receipts of encrypted messages, you must change the CRES settings for your account; see In CRES, how can I change my password or preferences? On the “Edit Profile” page, under “Preferences”, uncheck Request Read Receipt: Let me know when recipients open their messages.