Research

Secure Data Rooms

HGSE researchers are frequently the recipients of highly sensitive or confidential information from their data providers. As such, these researchers are sometimes required to reserve a secure data room in which to perform and analyze their research due to 1.) Certain data classification levels assigned by their respective Institutional Review Board (IRB) (either ...

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Vendor Compliance

HGSE’s confidential information is only as secure as our third-party service providers, or vendors, that we entrust with it. The rising cost of technology and an institution’s desire to improve the bottom line is fostering many decisions to outsource more and more of infrastructural and research project processes and functionality. Outsourcing IT and School business systems and processes saves money only if the vendor neglects to have a security breach. Unfortunately, many vendors leave the door open for attack, as they don’t necessarily keep client security interests top of mind...

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Incident Response

Please complete the below reporting steps if you experience or are aware of any of the following:

I've lost possession of an HGSE-owned/managed electronic device or a device that contains Harvard data.

  • Contact HGSE’s Director of Security Operations (DSO) via the IT Service Center
  • If you are an HGSE or Harvard employee, contact your manager
  • Open a case with the Harvard University Police Department (HUPD)...
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Security Policies

In higher education, an information security policy is a document required by state and federal law that just outlines how the school plans to protect its sensitive, confidential, or legally-protected information. An information security policy is often considered a "living document," meaning that the document is never finished, but is continuously updated as community, technology, and University, requirements change. 

University Policies & Guidelines

(See the University's full list on the...

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Information Security

Everyone at Harvard has a responsibility for the proper handling and protection of confidential information that's entrusted to or generated by us as required by University and local School security policies. 

The Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) is committed to protecting the information that is critical to teaching, research, and the University’s many varied activities, our business operation, and the communities we support, including students, faculty, staff members, and the public. These protections may be governed by legal, contractual, or...

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