by ZOE AIRABELLE AGUINALDO
THE UNIVERSITY will limit its online cloud storage for students to 20 gigabytes (GB), requiring Thomasians to transfer and erase non-academic files from their UST drive by May 17.
The change in UST’s storage allocation policies came after Google decided to no longer offer free and unlimited storage to emails under academic institutions.“
“[A]ll users must comply by removing and migrating personal files unrelated to coursework or University business…to avoid potential consequences such as account suspension or loss of data,” the updated storage allocation policy released by the Office of Information and Technology (ICT) read.
“Google’s transition to a paid service with limited storage space requires the University to modify its storage allocation policies to ensure equitable distribution of our valuable resources.”
The storage capacity to be given to students, recognized student organizations, and support staff will be limited to 20 GB. Offices and academic staff will have 30 GB of storage space while alumni and guests will be given 5 GB of storage space.
“The University cloud drive service allocated to all users must be used responsibly for learning, teaching, and work purposes,” ICT added.
Thomasians were told to discard materials containing confidential information in their UST Google Drive, including their health information, social security numbers, financial account details, driver’s license numbers, health insurance policy ID numbers and unlisted telephone numbers.
A two-factor authentication and verification will also be enforced by ICT from June 1 to ensure the confidentiality, security, and privacy of all University email accounts. F
