Security

We take the security, disaster recovery and privacy features of AbroadOffice very seriously.

Security and Uptime

1. AbroadOffice is hosted on a dedicated server at Rackspace, possibly the premier corporate hosting company in the world.

2. Our server is hardened and resides behind a dedicated firewall

3. Rackspace takes multiple measures to ensure the physical integrity of their facility, such as: multiple redundant internal and external networks with no single point of failure; Wholly owned data centers with keycards, biometric scanning and interior and exterior surveillance;Thoroughly background screened staff with limited access credentials; Advanced HVAC, air/filtering and fire suppression systems;Multiple redundancies in power generation and backup

4. All student data is protected by 128 bit SSL security

Disaster Recovery

1. Our solution is designed to minimize the possibility of data loss

2. Our server runs a RAID-1 configuration with hot-swappable hard-drives to ensure all data is recorded, in duplicate, in near real-time

3. In addition, all server data is backed up to two locations daily, including one off-site location

4. The Rackspace facility is staffed 24/7/365 by experience technicians who monitor the uptime of our hosted applications

Privacy/FERPA

1. All data hosted on AbroadOffice remains the property of the home university. You can leave at any time and we will provide an export of your data at no charge. (We do retain copies of data for backup purposes)

2. We do not publicly disclose any student-level information, including directory information. We might, from time to time, publish aggregate, anonymized, information (e.g. 23 home institutions and 1,000 students are using AbroadOffice).

3. Home university study abroad administrators control the disclosure of student information to their staff and to the students’ host institutions abroad. This is an allowed usage of student data under FERPAStudent data in AbroadOffice is only accessible to a select group of senior AbroadOffice/GLS executives and IT staff. All staff that has access to student data has signed confidentiality / non-disclosure agreements.

4. Student data in AbroadOffice is not used to contact students in order to market Global Learning Semesters programs. The Global Learning Semesters student advising team only has access to the records of students who are applying to Global Learning Semesters programs.

5. We do not collect credit card or banking information in AbroadOffice