You are responsible for the management and disposal of information you create or store in your personal working spaces such as OneDrive and Outlook. If your data is on a shared or cloud storage platform such as SharePoint or a networked drive you need to determine who is responsible for the data. In a project group, decide who will be responsible for archiving or disposing of relevant data once the project is completed. When a file is no longer required - it could be out-of-date or pose a security risk - you need to archive or discard it. Find out how to dispose of data without compromising it.
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What do I need to consider if I am responsible for disposing of data?
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Is the information high-risk or high-value (e.g. records)? If so, this data may need to be retained.
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What would be the best disposal or destruction process for this data?
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How do I dispose of documents stored on a cloud-based service? UQ recommends particular storage platforms for research, teaching and enterprise purposes. Review the defined data storage and retention policy before you dispose of data using the file deletion tools in your storage platform. Some platforms retain the deleted data for a specified time to allow for accidental deletion recovery, before permanently deleting it. Refer to the documentation for your storage platform for any retention periods.
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How do I know when to dispose of or archive data? UQ has protocols for retaining data, including time requirements for certain records, which are outlined on the Records Management Services website.
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What is archiving? Archiving is when data is moved to a different location because it is no longer regularly required but must be kept for knowledge and/or legal reasons. Rules apply for checking the record value and sensitivity level to determine if the data must be kept for a certain period to meet legal retention responsibilities. Depending on the record value of the data, some platforms are recommended for keeping the information for its legally required retention time, so that it remains protected, yet accessible by the right people and readable for the time it needs to be kept.
Time to take out the trash? This month, make sure it goes to the correct place.
