Privacy considerations when managing confidential data in CERNBox

CERNBox is suitable for storing personal data, including Sensitive Personal Data, as specified in Operational Circular 11, #93. CERNBox data and backups are always stored on the CERN premises. Handling of Sensitive Personal Data is subject to restrictions which you must strictly follow.

As a CERN user, you have the option to use Microsoft Office to edit files stored in your 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 will be shipped to a Microsoft data centre. 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 in both the above cases telemetry data may be shipped directly from your PC to Microsoft.

If you are concerned about your data privacy, or you are bound by contractual or confidentiality agreements (NDA), the recommendation is to refrain from using such services.

The LibreOffice suite is available for all major Operating Systems and, as it operates enitirely on premise, without sending telemetry data to external clouds, it is appropriate for processing such Office documents.

Restrictions when Handling Sensitive Personal Data

In the particular case of Sensitive Personal Data, you must not use external cloud services integrated in CERNBox or locally installed applications, which may send data to the cloud (e.g. Microsoft Office desktop applications). You should consult the relevant application documentation.

Furthermore, in order to keep strict control on who can access confidential or Sensitive Personal Data, you must not 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 account.

Additionally, when you share such data, you should not send links to single documents via the CERNBox Web interface, as when clicking on such links the document would be automatically sent to the Microsoft cloud. Instead, inform your collaborators that they should download the files and edit them locally using suitable editor applications. Similarly, as a recipient of a shared document that may contain confidential or Sensitive Personal Data, you must not open it with the direct link provided by the CERNBox Web interface.