If you are currently using DropBox or planning to use DropBox to share CIRES files, please consider Google Drive or Microsoft OneDrive instead. Using DropBox may make you personally liable for any FERPA or HIPAA data if a breach were to occur.
Dropbox is not a University of Colorado provided service and the terms used for the free version are not held the standards required for FERPA and HIPAA compliance.
If a breach were to occur, you may be held personally liable for any loss and any litigation that stems from the breach.
In addition, the service may not be setup properly, which can leave you vulnerable to someone losing all of your data (such as a share setup by a previous employee/student who leaves the group and takes the share with them).
By using your CU (or NOAA) provided Google Drive or OneDrive, you are fully protected in terms of FERPA and HIPAA. Additionally, you are also protected by the administrative controls available to your local IT groups. If an employee were to leave suddenly, your data can safely be retrieved by a 3rd party (CIRES IT or OIT).
If you have any questions or need any additional information, please contact CIRES IT at ciresithelp@colorado.edu.
