Q. How do I know if my laptop is encrypted?
- Join the SYSTECH Zoom room https://uust.org/help and an IT Specialist will verify your encrypted equipment. (M-F 8am-5pm).
Personal devices:
Q. I am a student or employed by University of Utah Health Sciences. I use a laptop from home to access umail. Do I need to encrypt?
- Yes. Whether or not the laptop is your personal laptop, that of a family member or friend, or owned by the University, if you use the laptop to access Umail, or for any University business, it needs to be encrypted.
Q. I am a student at the College of Nursing. I use a laptop from home to access Canvas classes. Do I need to encrypt?
- Yes. Whether or not the laptop is your personal laptop, that of a family member or friend, or owned by the University, if you use the laptop to access Canvas for Nursing or Health Science classes, it needs to be encrypted.
Q. Do laptops that come in with non-employees (students, patients, etc) and connect to UGUEST only, qualify as “inside” and need to be encrypted, even though they don’t have access to the UUHSC clinical network?
- Patient devices do not need to be encrypted. Students (as well as medical residents, medical fellows, pharmacy residents, and other forms of graduate students and post-graduate students and trainees) within School of Medicine, Pharmacy, Nursing, Health and other areas within UUHSC are subject to the same encryption requirements as are employees.
Q. Does this policy apply to patients in the hospital or their visitors?
- No. Patient devices do not need to be encrypted.
Q. What about personal equipment (not university owned)? Will the IT department do the encryption for me? If encryption causes my computer to not perform acceptably, will the university replace that equipment?
- People are responsible for their own “personal” (non-university owned) equipment. The College of Nursing and University of Utah is not responsible for data loss or performance issues due to encryption problems.
Q. Is there a third party that we can refer faculty/staff/students to so they can get help with encrypting their personal laptops?
- Personal laptops are the responsibility of the owner. If the owner is tech savvy, then they have the option of loading the encryption software on themselves. Otherwise take your device to a reputable dealer.
- The University Bookstore is an option for paying to have your Laptop Encrypted. Verify with them on current pricing.
Q. I am a Nursing Student.. I have a desktop at home that I sometimes use to access my umail. Does this desktop need to be encrypted?
- Yes, desktops are within scope and will need to be verified for encryption.
Q. I am a Nursing Student. I know I need to encrypt my laptop that I use at home and on campus, but I am having a hard time reaching my IT support person to assist me with encryption. What should I do?
- Please read through this entire FAQ and Contact the CON Student Services center for more information
Q. I own a laptop that I sometimes use for course work. I want to sell my laptop to my friend. What do I need to do to make sure it’s safe?
- Your computer needs to be inspected by a University of Utah IT person to ensure that it contains absolutely no PHI. This needs to be done before you sell your computer to your friend. Contact Help Desk for more information
Q. I think my laptop is encrypted but I’m not sure. What should I do?
- Join the SYSTECH Zoom room https://uust.org/help and an IT Specialist will verify your encrypted equipment. (M-F 8am-5pm
Q. I have a computer at home. I never use this for Course Work. I use it only to store my person photograph collection. Must this be encrypted?
- No, this is not a computer used for University business or Course work and it does not need to be encrypted.
Q. I want to comply with the HSC encryption program. I have a laptop at home that I use for work or class at the College of Nursing. Knowing that the deadline is coming up soon I would like to go ahead and encrypt my own laptop to make sure I am in compliance until my IT person has a chance to assist me with this. What tools are available to help me encrypt my own laptop?
Q. I have an iPhone/Android that I use for work-related email. What requirements apply to me?
- You must set up your phone to automatically lock out every 15 seconds or less of non-use. It must be set up with a password after lockout. You must routinely sync your device with the network.
Q. What does “data used for a university purpose” encompass? Suppose for example, that I do a PowerPoint at home, and take it to a conference on a USB device, does that device need to be encrypted?
- The term “data used for a University purpose” is meant to be read broadly. Anything you are doing as part of your job or course work is included within this meaning. If you are preparing a power point for any work-related reason, and then put it on a USB device, it needs to be encrypted. Institutionally we are transitioning to using only encrypted USB drives.
Q. A Student in my class has a USB drive that contains non-work-related materials. Must it be encrypted?
- No, please keep it home. Personal unencrypted devices are not to be brought into the UUHSC/College of Nursing buildings
Q. How should we handle rotation students? Should this be the responsibility of our department while they are visiting us?
- Yes, visiting students are the responsibility of the department that is hosting the visiting students. The same would be true for visiting faculty or temporary staff; they need to use encrypted devices for University business.
Q. Students from other universities sometimes come to my unit on clinical placements. Are they required to use encrypted portable storage devices?
- Yes. Any employee, faculty, staff, volunteer, or student that is at UUHC or HSC and has access to patient information must use only encrypted storage devices.
Q. Do laptops that come in with non-employees (students, patients, etc) and connect to UGUEST only, qualify as “inside” and need to be encrypted, even though they don’t have access to our actual network?
- Patient devices do not need to be encrypted. Students (as well as medical residents, medical fellows, pharmacy residents, and other forms of graduate students and post-graduate students and trainees) within School of Medicine, Pharmacy, Nursing, Health and other areas within UUHSC are subject to the same encryption requirements as are employees.
Q. I teach a course in the College of Nursing which involves undergraduate students from all over the University. I never use PHI in my lectures, and the students are not exposed to PHI in any way as part of this course. Are they required to use encrypted laptops or encrypted storage devices?
- No. This coursework does not involve access to PHI and the students are not involved in clinical placements or other activities with access to PHI. These students will not have access to the UConnect Wireless network.
Q. I’m a student in College of Nursing and interact with patients and have discussions involving patient data. Do I need to encrypt my laptop?
- Yes. Any student that has involvement with patient data or access to PHI data needs to encrypt their laptops and storage devices.
Q. A faculty member from another university is coming here to present a lecture and wants to bring with them a laptop and some PowerPoint slides on a thumb drive. The presentation contains no PHI. Must this laptop and must this thumb drive be encrypted?
- No. The presentation contains no PHI. In addition, the presenter is not part of the University of Utah workforce and thus is not subject to our encryption requirements.
External Storage Devices
Q. I work for Health Sciences and have access to patient information. I sometimes store information on a USB device. What requirements apply to me?
- You are required to use an encrypted USB device. All external storage devices having patient information need to be encrypted. Any patient information on unencrypted external storage media needs to immediately be transferred to encrypted storage.
Q. What if I have a thumb drive that does not contain patient information? For example I am working on a novel that I have stored on a thumb drive.
- No, it does not need to be encrypted. However, personal devices are not to be brought in to work/campus and we encourage you not to have external storage devices in the workplace that are not encrypted.