University of New England

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Safeguarding Faxes

Purpose

The nature of fax transmissions makes information sent particularly vulnerable to unintended and unauthorized uses of and disclosures. As with other communications related to safeguarding confidential information, the University of New England must reasonably safeguard information sent by fax.

Procedure

All UNE personnel should take reasonable safeguards to protect fax communications by:

	•	Locating the fax machine in an area that is not high traffic and is not within view or accessible to visitors.

	•	Ensuring that access for certain employees is limited to preserve the protection of confidential information.

Employees should take reasonable steps to ensure that the fax transmissions/communications are sent to the intended contacts and destinations by:

	•	Refraining from sending highly confidential information by fax (examples of private, confidential information include, but are not limited to: Social Security numbers, financial information, financial aid applications, copies of tax returns, health records, birth date, home address or phone number, passwords, gender, ethnicity, citizenship, citizen visa code, veteran and disability status, educational services received, student academic information (grades, courses taken, schedule, test scores, advising records, etc), disciplinary actions, and student ID).

	•	Double-checking fax numbers before sending.

	•	Periodically reminding recipients of faxes to update UNE office staff with fax number changes.

	•	Contacting the recipient of a misdirected fax and requesting that the individual discard and destroy the fax. Responsible personnel will ensure that the fax is sent again, to the correct destination, after re-verifying the fax number.

	•	Ensuring that all faxes are accompanied by a fax cover sheet that contains the following UNE confidentiality statement:

		Confidentiality Statement for Facsimile Transmissions The documents in this facsimile transmission may contain confidential information that is privileged and legally protected from disclosure by the Federal Trade Commission Gramm Leach Bliley Act. This information is intended only for the use of the individual or entity named above. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that reading, disseminating, disclosing, distributing, copying, acting upon or otherwise using the information contained in this facsimile is strictly prohibited. If you have received this information in error, please notify the sender immediately at ____________ and destroy this facsimile.

Two Maine Campuses:
University Campus, Biddeford / Westbrook College Campus, Portland · 207.283.0171