Tableau for Student's data Analytics

[Ronald King <ronald.king () MORGAN EDU>]

Good morning all,

We have been approached by Academic Affairs to participate in a project to
possibly use Tableau for data analytics of our student (FERPA) data. We are
looking at whether to have it hosted or on premises and potentially have a
direct feed from our Student Information System (SIS).

While we have the expected concerns related to any cloud service accessing
the SIS, what is really concerning is the access to student data. Red flags
started to fly almost immediately. So, my questions to the group:

   - Is anyone using Tableau for data analytics for enrollment data and
   student records?
   - What privacy concerns do you have even if the student records are
   "de-identified?" (Even if we remove names, socials and student numbers,
   there are still ways to identify individuals based on other data sets.)
   - Do we need student permission to provide their "de-identified" data to
   a cloud service?
   - Is there any advise you can offer?

Please feel free to contact me directly via email or phone.

Thank you very much for your time.
*Ronald A. King, CISSP*
Chief Information Security Officer
Morgan State University Office: (443) 885-3372
1700 E. Cold Spring Ln. Email: ronald.king () morgan edu
Baltimore, MD 21251 URL: http://www.morgan.edu

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