January is Data Privacy Month: Free Webinars and Easy Ways to Increase Awareness

You know the importance of protecting personal identities and the effects social media can have on privacy, but does everyone on your campus? During the month of January, EDUCAUSE is expanding on Data Privacy Day to provide an entire month’s worth of activities and resources to help raise data privacy awareness. You can participate by attending the upcoming webinars and creating a plan to increase awareness on your campus with the easy-to-implement suggestions listed below. You can also visit the EDUCAUSE Data Privacy Month page for additional resources and information.

January 2012 Webinars

EDUCAUSE hosted several webinars on data privacy throughout the month of January:

January 4 (1–2 p.m. ET): EDUCAUSE Live! hosted a webinar on data privacy with guest speakers Jolynn Dellinger (NCSA), Merri Beth Lavagnino (IU), and Nat Wood (FTC). Listen to the webinar archive now (all three presentations and the chat transcript are also available from the archive page).

January 10 (3–4 p.m. ET): EDUCAUSE Policy hosted a webinar on Privacy and Security Risks in Higher Education with guest speaker Daniel J. Solove (George Washington University Law School). Tracy Mitrano (Cornell University) moderated. Listen to the webinar archive now.

January 25 (1–2 p.m. ET): EDUCAUSE Policy hosted a webinar on FERPA and privacy initiatives at the Department of Education with guest speakers Kathleen Styles and Michael Hawes (Department of Education). Rodney Petersen (EDUCAUSE) moderated. Listen to the webinar archive now.

January 30 (1–2 p.m. ET): EDUCAUSE Policy hosted a webinar about Online Reputation Management with guest speaker Matt Ivester (founder of JuicyCampus and author of lol...OMG!). Merri Beth Lavagnino (Indiana University) moderated. Listen to the webinar archive now.

Easy Ways to Increase Awareness on Your Campus

Below are a few easy ways to increase awareness on your campus.

1. Use the graphic attached to this post on your college or university website. Consider linking the graphic to tips students, faculty, and staff can use to protect their privacy. A good example is Todd Feinman’s blog, Protect Yourself, from the Data Privacy Day website.
2. Create a Twitter campaign. Using your college or university’s Twitter profile, share tips for protecting personal data with your followers. Below are a few tips from Feinman’s blog in tweet format to get you started.
   1. Data Privacy Month Tip: Never tweet or post DOB, personal address, or maiden name. http://bit.ly/tHJNjT
   2. Data Privacy Month Tip: Always update your software; updates protect you from new hacks. http://bit.ly/tHJNjT
   3. Data Privacy Month Tip: Create complex passwords and never save them unsecured. http://bit.ly/tHJNjT
3. Attend the data privacy webinars as a group and invite others to join in. Use the Campus Hosting Kit to help plan an event. Week four’s presentation on protecting personal data will include useful information for everyone on your campus.

For additional ideas, check out these resources for students and educators.

Share Your Plans

If you plan on holding a Data Privacy Month event in January, please e-mail your plans and any applicable URL’s.

Data Privacy Month is brought to you by EDUCAUSE Policy.