How secure is your student’s data?

How secure is your data? Have you stopped to think what someone would have access to if they got into your email? Twitter? Facebook?

I had a realization while listening to the amazing Leo Laporte, and his explanation of Google’s Authenticator app, that my accounts may not be as safe as I thought. Maybe, just maybe, my password isn’t the equivalent of Fort Knox security. So I began to install 2-step verification, and the Google Authenticator app. This app is fantastic, it provides a 30 second code for 2-step verification. When your account is accessed from a new device, it prompts you for not only the username and password, but also for the Google Authenticator code. This code appears on your iPhone, Blackberry, Andriod phone in the app, and it only “live” for 30 seconds. I am very happy with this new step in security, but the real question is, why did I do it?

During a recent fire drill, it struck me that schools are required to practice various security measures for our students physical safety, but I struggled to think of any security measures we use to protect their digital safety.

I have countless emails, projects, essays and other student data on my Gmail, Google Docs and other digital mediums. What if someone got into those accounts? I would feel horrible if a student wrote me an email to explain an embarrassing personal situation, and that email became public. What would I do if a student slaved away on a project, emailed it to me, but then my account was wiped clean? These situations, although we think unlikely, occur more than we realize. This is why I initiated 2-step verification on my Google accounts, because if we aren’t showing students the proper way to stay secure, how can we expect them to do any better?

Google Video: 2-Step Verification