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Data managent in Thesis: Data security and storage

Data security in thesis data management

Information security refers to measures that


1.    Ensure the availability of data

  • Such as backup procedures

2.    The confidentiality of data

  • Typically allowing access only to the thesis author and thesis advisor

3.    The integrity of data

  • For example, through proper file management.

Information security must be considered in data storage, processing, and transfer. This includes selecting appropriate storage locations, performing backups, using secure tools for data collection and processing, and managing access and usage rights.
 

Personal data and sensitive data

Personal data and sensitive information, such as confidential personal data or trade secrets, must be handled with particular care. Haaga-Helia provides students with the following tools for data management.

Surveys with Webropol

Haaga-Helia offers students access to the Webropol survey and reporting application.

Interviews with Teams

Haaga-Helia provides students access to the Teams application for conducting interviews. By default, the recording is saved in the user's personal OneDrive folder, from which materials containing sensitive data should be transferred to the M-drive.

Storage locations

During the thesis process, various research materials are created, such as interviews and text, measurement results, images, and recordings. Digital data must be stored somewhere during the work process.

The selection of a storage location depends on:

  1. Whether the data contains sensitive information, such as confidential personal data or trade secrets.
  2. Who needs access to the data.

Haaga-Helia's M-network drive

  • Suitable for sensitive data
  • Automatically backed up once a day, mirrored to another data center with a 20-minute delay
  • No shared access
  • Ability to independently restore previous versions of files
  • Accessible via the school network or a vdi connection from your own computer.

Haaga-Helia's M-shared drive

  • Can be authorized for group use
  • Suitable for sensitive data
  • Automatically backed up once a day, mirrored to another data center with a 20-minute delay
  • Ability to independently restore previous versions of files
  • Accessible via the school network or a vdi connection from your own computer.

Cloud services such as OneDrive and Teams

  • Suitable for confidential data as long as the file is not shared via a link
  • The owner grants permissions, and permission changes are not notified to other workspace users
  • Suitable for collaborative use in paired projects
  • Backed up once a day
  • Ability to independently restore previous versions of files
  • Student should follow Haaga-Helia's cloud service policies.

Webropol

  • Surveys conducted with Webropol are saved to the student's personal Webropol account
  • Suitable for sensitive data
  • Suitable for collaborative use in paired projects.

Wihi

  • Wihi includes a confidential area accessible only to the thesis author and thesis advisor
  • To use the confidential area in Wihi, ask your thesis advisor to open it.

As a general rule, thesis materials are not shared with anyone other than the possible thesis project partner and thesis advisor. Ensure confidentiality yourself!

We do not recommend storing thesis materials on the computer's memory or external storage devices such as USB drives, memory cards, or external hard drives, except for temporary purposes. These devices are vulnerable to failure and loss, and you must take care of backups yourself. If the device fails and no backups exist, the worst-case scenario is the loss of all thesis data.

Saavutettavuusseloste / Accessibility Statement