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Appendix V.

Information Technology Standards for the Collecting of Information Using Georgia Southern Websites

In order to offer our users the most secure and private web experience possible the following policy has been developed to govern the collection of information. This policy refers mainly to the user of forms on the web and Common Gateway Interface (CGI) applications that are used to collect information from visitors to the site. Information must be kept as secure as possible and these are designed to aid in that cause.

The following standards MUST be used when developing an online form or data collection site.

The Collecting of Personal Information
For the purpose of this document, “Personal Information” will be defined as information that uniquely identifies a person or individual such as name, address, phone number, social security number, passwords, etc.

If personal information is to be collected from a Georgia Southern University Website it must be secure. This means that the site and information collected must:

1. Run through an SSL (Secure Socket Layer) secured browser instance.
a. Simply stating it is secure does not mean it is.
b. If the information is transmitted outside of secured browser, then it could possibly be seen by outside users and used for malicious purposes. This is what we would like to avoid.
2. The information must be stored securely.
a. Storing the information to a personal hard drive does not mean that it is secure. Neither does just having the data on the server.
b. There is a certain liability of what are we doing with the information.
c. This information cannot be placed openly on the web or be distributed without the expressed consent of the individual.
d. This storage must be in a database that allows some for of security for that data.

If you would like to set up a form for the collection of personal information please submit a request to the University Webmaster for approval. Please submit a link to the form as well as who it is being requested for and the intend purpose of the data. Please explain how the data will be used and how it will be stored. Please also state who will be allowed to view the data.

Collecting General Information

For the purpose of this section “General Information” will be defined as information that is demographic in nature such as age group, race or ethnicity, gender, etc. This information is usually collected as part of surveys and does not in any way uniquely identify an individual.

If general information is to be collected from a Georgia Southern University Website, it can be done through unsecured, granted it is for a reasonable purpose.


An individual or group wanting to collect general information from a website must contact the University Webmaster. A link to the form and intentions must be provided for review. If approved, the form may be used. If denied, the form can be edited and then submitted for re-approval.