Tech Tips: Sending Sensitive Information

May 21, 2019

Sending sensitive information

Have you ever needed to send sensitive data to someone outside of Duke?  If you are working with sensitive data (personally identifiable data, medical records, student information, etc.) and you need to share it, here’s how to protect it and get it to the right person, whether they are affiliated with Duke or not …

But first, here’s our Tech Tip of the Week –

Have you ever been on a webpage and the text is just too small?  Or maybe you need to enlarge the entire webpage?  Here’s how:

Using Windows?  

  • Enlarge the text on any web page by pressing CTRL and the + or - keys.
  • Enlarge the entire web page by pressing the CTRL key as you turn your mouse wheel.

How about a Mac?

  • Enlarge the text on a web page by pressing the Command key and the + or – keys.
  • Enlarge the entire screen image by pressing Command while turning the wheel of your mouse.

Give it a try!

Sensitive Data

Duke understands that there are times you need to send sensitive information to individuals or groups outside of Duke, and they have provided several ways to do that.

Is your data sensitive?  Look for:

  • Personally identifiable data – information about an individual
  • Protected Health Information – PHI, SEI
  • Student Information – anything about students
  • Confidential information – anything you don’t want someone else to see

Not sure?  Best to protect it before sending it.

Sending via email

Using Outlook on your computer - 

Type any of the following at the beginning of the subject line

  • (secure)
  • [secure]
  • (send secure)
  • [send secure]

Using Office 365 via the web –

  • Click New to begin a new message
  • Click on the ellipsis (three dots) in the new message window
  • Set permissions from the drop-down menu
  • Select Sensitive Electronic Information (SEI)

But … best to try it out first

If this is new to you, we recommend that you try it out so you can understand the entire process.  Here’s how:

  • Start a new Duke email message
  • Address it to your home (non-Duke) email address
  • Follow the instructions above for sending secure email
    • Don’t worry about sending any data – just type “Test” in the message body
  • Press Send
  • Now, open your home or non-Duke email address
  • Open the secure message.

We recommend going through the entire process (even the registration) so that you are familiar with the process and can instruct your recipient if they have any problems.

File too big for email?

Create a Box folder, copy your data to the Box folder, then share it with the non-Duke folks who need to see it.  

If you aren’t sure how to do this, contact your IT Service Desk.  We’re happy to help.

Going deeper…

Duke provides a wide variety of tools that can protect data.  Learn more by clicking here.

Have any questions about this or other tech used at DUSON?

As always, if you have any technical questions or problems, please contact your IT Service Desk at 919-684-9200, or email to citdl@mc.duke.edu.

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