SHARCNET Privacy Policy

Draft for comments
Version 1.0
2006-03-16

Overview

Here are the policies SHARCNET will impose to ensure the privacy of our users' data.

• By default users' files are readable by only those users in the same research group. Users can change the default by modifying their umask variable.
• SHARCNET staff will monitor disc usage including file names and organization. Generally SHARCNET staff will not look at the contents of files unless requested by the user but may perform general checks to ensure the storage is being used efficiently. (ie data that can be compressed is so)
• We will make reasonable efforts to ensure the integrity and security of user data but cannot guarantee either and note that SHARCNET is a shared system with a large number of users.
• It is not intended that sensitive information be kept on SHARCNET systems without prior special arrangements and that the SHARCNET resources should not be used for storing email, personal information or backups of other systems and files.
• SHARCNET will monitor the jobs executed by each user on the SHARCNET resources. This includes the total number, resource requirements, command executed and parameters used.

Please send in your comments to sharcnet-policies@sharcnet.ca.