Keep Your Learners’ Personal Information Secure in Your Interactions with ASHA CE

We all see the news about data breaches leaving personal information exposed, from email addresses to social security numbers and everything between. Information security has long been a priority for ASHA, and ASHA CE is doing our part to ensure that individuals’ Personally Identifiable Information (PII) is secure. But we need your help!

Before addressing what you can do to keep your learners’ PII safe, it’s important to understand what data is considered PII. When we’re talking about PII, this information includes but is not limited to:

• names
• email addresses
• mailing addresses
• phone numbers
• ASHA account numbers

The biggest concern in your interactions with ASHA CE is when reporting information is emailed rather than submitted through one of our secure reporting options. When you report participants via CSV file or excel reporting it’s through a secure system. The information you submit is protected when using either of these options, and there’s nothing to worry about. However, occasionally Providers who have trouble submitting their reporting will email reporting to their Accounts Manager or Provider Manager. That’s when your learners’ PII is most vulnerable. It’s important to avoid sending PII in the body or subject line of an email, or attach any document (excel, CSV, Word, PDF, etc.) that includes PII to an email.

If you ever have any issues reporting using a CSV file or through the Provider Portal using an excel file, please reach out to your Accounts Manager to discuss other options. They’ll help you submit your reporting safely. Under no circumstances should you email reporting containing individual’s PII to your Provider Management team. Working together, we can keep our customers’ PII safe and secure!