Privacy considerations when managing confidential data in CERNBox

CERNBox is suitable for storing sensitive data. CERNBox data and backups are always stored on the CERN premises.

As a CERN user, you have the option to use Microsoft Office to edit files stored in your EOS personal or project spaces. Depending on the licence you are eligible for, you can use:

• Microsoft Office Online integrated on the CERNBox web interface. In this case, please note that the document you are editing as well as telemetry data may be shipped to Microsoft. The Record of Processing Operations provides further details about the data collected by Microsoft.

• Microsoft Office for Desktop, either on a Windows PC managed by you, or through the Windows Terminal Services. Please note that also in this case telemetry data may be shipped to Microsoft.

If you are concerned about your data privacy, or you are bound by contractual or confidentiality agreements (NDA), you may want to avoid the use of cloud-based solutions. The alternative for Office documents is to use the LibreOffice suite, available for all major Operating Systems.

Furthermore, in order to keep strict control on who can access sensitive data, it is recommended not to use public, anonymous links when sharing the data, as by design they can be reshared with no control. Instead, use authenticated shares, and if the recipients are external contractors, ask them to create an external (or lightweight) account.