Compliance
The University is required to abide by many laws and regulations. For information on these compliance items, please follow these items:
FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974) is a Federal law that protects the privacy of student education records. This law applies to all schools that receive funds under an applicable program of the U.S. Department of Education. FERPA provides students with the right to inspect and review certain education records maintained by the school and to request corrections if the records are inaccurate or misleading. It requires that schools obtain written permission before releasing information from a student’s education record. It also allows schools to publish certain "directory" information about students, unless the student has requested that the school not do so.
HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) protects the privacy of Protected Health Information (PHI). It establishes regulations for the use and disclosure of PHI, including a patient’s health status, provision of health care, medical records, or payment history. Penalties for wrongfully disclosing PHI range from a $50,000 to a $250,000 fine and a one year to a ten year prison term, depending on the circumstances. These fines are for the individual, not the institution.
PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) is an industry standard which protects credit card customer account data. It requires specific control objectives be met by any organization that accepts credit cards for payment. These control objectives include secure network, server, and desktop standards, as well as procedures to ensure that credit card data is properly protected during the transaction.
GLBA protects consumers’ personal financial information held by financial institutions. It requires that financial institutions provide customers with a privacy notice explaining what information is collected, how it is used, and how it is protected. The penalty for failing to comply with GLBA is a fine of up to $100,000 for the institution and of up to $10,000 for the officers and directors of the institution.
This law protects the personal information of Illinois residents. It requires that an institution which houses social security numbers, driver’s license numbers, state ID numbers, bank account numbers, and/or credit card numbers provide consumers with notice of any security breaches that compromise that information. A violation of this act is a violation of the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Practices Act and could result in civil monetary penalties.