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Why is Encryption Important

You may have read about incidents where personal data has been stolen, lost or subject to unauthorised access. In most cases, these were caused by data being inadequately protected or the devices the data was stored on being left in inappropriate places.

It is UCLs legal obligation to ensure that personal data is processed safely and securely. There are a number of ways to do this, encryption being one of them. You can encrypt your laptop (hard disk), individual documents and emails.

Encryption is very important because:

  1. It protects privacy by turning personal, confidential and sensitive data into “for your eyes only” information accessible strictly to the intended parties only.
  2. Hacking is a big business which poses a huge threat of UCL’s information assets.
  3. Encryption helps UCL stay compliant with the Data Protection Legislation whilst protecting the valuable data of its stakeholders.