SharePoint Online in Boston University’s Office 365 is approved for storing Confidential and Restricted Use Information

Office 365 is Microsoft’s cloud-based offering of a number of services, including SharePoint Online. Boston University’s Information Services & Technology (IS&T) maintains a tenant in Office 365, through which it offers departments, research groups, and others the opportunity to request and manage their own SharePoint site collections. Boston University has approved SharePoint Online within BU’s tenant for storing Confidential and Restricted Use Information. For definitions of Confidential and Restricted Use information, see the Data Protection Standards.

The basis for that policy begins with our agreements with Microsoft regarding security in their data centers, some of which is described in the Office 365 Trust Center, but that security must be preserved and extended through the awareness, choices, and actions of each local site collection administrator. Everyone responsible for maintaining security within any SharePoint Online site collection should refer to the guidelines provided at Security in Office 365/SharePoint Online. This is particularly important before beginning to use a site to store Confidential or Restricted Use Information.