Tech Guides :: Information Security :: Identities
Public vs. Private Identities
At HSU, you have two electronic identities: (1) a "private" identity that only you should know, and which is used to protect personal and confidential information about you, and (2) a "public" identity which you should use socially and in places where lots of people might see it.
Your private identity (or HSU User Name) is based on your initials and a number, and looks something like: ck43. This is what you use to login to the online registration system, Moodle, computers connected to the campus network, the campus wireless network, email, and more. Because these systems contain personal and confidential information about you, your private identifier is something that only you should know. It is not something you should have to provide to anyone else, or know about anyone else, in order to interact with faculty, students, colleagues and friends across campus.
Your public identifier (or alias) is what you should distribute to friends and family as your email address, and use as the address for your web page(if you build one). In the example above of ck43, the public identifier would be clark.kent @humboldt.edu. Even though you will continue to login to email using your private identifier (e.g., ck43), once we move to Zimbra any email you send will automatically be sent with your public identifier (e.g., clark.kent) in the From: field.
Faculty and staff already have a public identifier (e.g., first.last@humboldt.edu); if you aren't sure what your public identifier is,contact the Help Desk for assistance. As we roll out Zimbra, students will be able obtain an alias in Account Center (formerly known as WebReg) (click Account Tools, then Select Account Alias)
Those of you who have been at HSU for a while know that, in the past, the HSU User Name *has* been publicly visible through email addresses, directory listings, and web site addresses. As FERPA and other information security laws and policies get more and more strict about protecting data, this is becoming unacceptable. As we change email systems, web servers, file storage options, and student information systems, it is the right time for HSU to adjust our practices and procedures to incorporate this cleaner division between the uses of private and public identifiers.
So, we are going to stop publishing your private identifier (e.g., ck43) in campus directories and other public information sources, and encourage you to switch to sharing only your public identifier (or alias) as well ( e.g., clark.kent@humboldt.edu). If you are accustomed to using your private identifier as an email address, please be assured that it will continue to work! Email sent to ck43@humboldt.edu will continue to arrive in Clark Kent's inbox (as will email sent to clark.kent@humboldt.edu). But in the interest of providing better protections for the personal and confidential information about you stored in university systems, we highly encourage you to take the time to update your contact information wherever you may have distributed it.
Here is a breakdown of how this affects you:
Private Identifiers |
||
| Example | Uses | |
| HSU ID Number: This is a unique 9 digit identifier used within Banner
and/or Peoplesoft to keep track of your personal, individual records. |
9464-65555 | Login to Account Center (formerly known as WebReg) the very first time to activate your accounts |
| HSU User Name and Password: This is the set of ‘tokens’ you need to know in order to connect to a wide variety of on-line resources at HSU, some of which may contain confidential or protected information about you. Your HSU User Name is based on your initials and a number. This identifier is never changed and is yours permanently, even after you have ended your active association with the university. | ck43 |
‘Simplified sign-on’ for: • workstations and computer labs • Web accounts • Wireless network • Moodle • Inter-library loan • Hyperion • Account Center (formerly known as WebReg) (after initial login described in first row) Determines the naming convention for your: • email address (e.g., ck43@humboldt.edu) • personal network folder ‘path’ (e.g., folders.humboldt.edu/ck43) • publicly visible web address (e.g., users.humboldt.edu/ck43) |
Public Identifiers |
||
| Example | Uses | |
| Display Name: By default, this is your full, legal, first and last name. OEM (students) or HR (employees) can alter your display name to encompass preferences like John rather than Jonathon, and effect name changes after marriages, divorces, and adoptions. | Clark Kent |
• The name that appears in the on-line Staff or Student Phone and Email Directories • The name that appears in Moodle • The name that will appear on Zimbra’s ‘global address list’ • For employees, the name that appears on the digital readout on campus telephones |
| Formal Alias for Faculty and Staff: an identifier based on your Display Name and formatted as firstname.lastname Some faculty and staff already use formal aliases. Once we go live with Zimbra, all faculty and staff will have formal aliases, and should start using them as their preferred email address. |
clark.kent | As we go live with Zimbra, activate our new web server, and offer new network fileshares to the entire HSU community, this identifier will become: • the email address that appears in the online Staff Phone and Email directory (e.g., clark.kent@humboldt.edu) • the email address that should be used on business cards and other public sources of email addresses • the naming convention for publicly visible web addresses (e.g., user.humboldt.edu/clark.kent) |
| Alias for Students: When initializing their accounts in Account Center (formerly known as WebReg), students will be given a choice of aliases based on their Display Name (sorry, you won't be able to pick superman@humboldt.edu). Full formal aliases for students are unpractical because of the high number of “collisions” (identical Display Names, e.g., John Smith) encountered when provisioning accounts for a large student population over many years (we currently have over 300,000 accounts for students). Faculty and Staff will be able to request an informal alias for their publicly visible web address if they wish one. |
clarkk - or - ckent - or - clarkjk - or - kentclarkj etc. |
This identifier will become: • the email address that appears in the online Student Phone and Email directory (e.g., clarkk@humboldt.edu) • the email address to share with friends, family, and other social contacts • the naming convention for publicly visible web addresses (e.g., user.humboldt.edu/clarkk) |
