Cloud Storage

What is cloud storage ?

Cloud storage is storage in which data is maintained, managed and backed up remotely and made available to users over a network. Lamar University has contracted with Microsoft to provide One Drive for Business to all students, faculty and staff. 

Personal vs Business

If you have signed up for cloud storage directly with Google, Apple  or other companies using your personal email address or Lamar email address, these qualify as personal cloud. Personal offerings are not sponsored by Lamar and do not offer the same level of security or contractual protections that are offered to a business offering.

Business cloud storage are offerings that are provided to you by Lamar University. Lamar University has contracted with Microsoft to provide One Drive for Business to all students, faculty and staff. This is referred to as Microsoft Cloud in the rest of this document. Additionally, Lamar University's Information Technology division provides additional storage options known as Lamar Cloud for faculty and staff.

Please refer to the table below to distinguish between Personal Cloud vs Business Cloud.

Guidance to Students

Lamar University's One Drive for Business can be used to safely store most of your documents. As with any other cloud storage solution, you should use caution when storing documents that contain sensitive information, such as your Social Security number, driver's license number or credit card information. Students should consider encrypting documents that contain sensitive information (e.g. Adobe Acrobat and Microsoft Office both offer encryption features) or removing the sensitive portions of the document prior to uploading to One Drive.

Guidance to Faculty and Staff

The use of Personal Cloud for storage of Lamar University information should be avoided. Lamar University's One Drive for Business offerings can be used to store and share many of the documents you use on a day-to-day basis. While appropriate safeguards have been implemented for storage of information classified as Public, it is not adequate for storage of Regulated and Confidential information.

The table below  describes the types of LU information classifications, applicable regulations and appropriate storage location.

 = OK to store and use.

 = DO NOT store in this location.

Lamar Information Classification	Regulation	Information Examples	Personal Cloud	Microsoft Cloud	Lamar Cloud
Regulated	Family Educational Rights and Privacy  Act(FERPA)	Directory Information: Firstname, Lastname, email.
Regulated	Family Educational Rights and Privacy  Act  (FERPA)	Grades, transcripts, class lists, student course schedules, health records.
Regulated	Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)	Electronic patient health records. Information that identifies an individual and relates to: the physical or mental health or condition of the individual; the provision of health care to the individual; or payment for the provision of health care to the individual.
Regulated	Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCIDSS)	PCI DSS v3.0 Data: Primary Account Number (PAN) Cardholder Name Expiration Date Service Code Full track data (magnetic-stripe data or equivalent on a chip) CAV2/CVC2/CVV2/CID PINs/PIN blocks Bank account numbers or card numbers in combination with any required security code, access code, or password that would permit access to an individual's financial account.
Regulated	International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) Export Administration Regulations (EAR)
Confidential	Personally identifiable information (PII): Defined by Texas  Business and Commerce Code 521.002(a)(1)	Name, social security number, date of birth, or government-issued identification number; Mother's maiden name; Unique biometric data, including the individual's fingerprint, voice print, and retina or iris image; Unique electronic identification number, address, or routing code; and Telecommunication access device (cellphone, smartphones etc).
Confidential	Sensitive personal information (SPI):  Defined by Texas  Business and Commerce Code 521.002(a)(2)	An individual's first name or first initial and last name in combination with any one or more of the following items, if the name and the items are not encrypted: social security number; driver's license number or government-issued identification number; or passport(s)
Sensitive	TSUS and Lamar University policies.	Credentials e.g. usernames and/or passwords Business plans. HR information such as employee reviews and performance appraisals. Salary Information Research information that are stipulated by grant's data security requirements.
Public	TSUS and Lamar University policies.	Lamar website publication. Press releases. Class notes and presentations not covered under copyrights. Research information that are not stipulated by grants/contracts data security requirements. Published university policies. Staff meeting notes that doesn't contain sensitive information.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the risks associated with cloud storage?

Other than OneDrive for Business(Microsoft Cloud), Lamar University does not have any contacts with other cloud vendors. This means that the vendors are not obligated to protect and secure university data from unauthorized access or disclosure.

What are the terms of use for Microsoft cloud?

The use of One Drive for Business offered by Microsoft and Lamar are subjected to Lamar Acceptable Use Policy and Microsoft's terms of service.