IntegrityStar, August 2025 edition
Understanding Data Mapping: A Key Step in Safeguarding UCF Data
At UCF, we generate and manage vast amounts of information every day ranging from student records and faculty research to administrative and financial data. Managing this data securely and efficiently requires clear insight, and one essential tool in that process is data mapping.
What is Data Mapping?
Data mapping is the process of identifying, documenting, and understanding how data moves through UCF. It captures key details such as:
- The types of data collected – such as student information, research records, health data, or financial details.
- The source of the data – including applications, forms, learning platforms, surveys, and third-party systems.
- Where the data is stored – whether on local servers, cloud services, department databases, or physical records.
- Who uses or has access to the data – such as faculty, staff, researchers, or authorized third parties.
- How the data is used and shared – including academic support, administrative functions, analytics, reporting, or regulatory compliance.
- How long the data is retained and when it is deleted or archived.
Think of data mapping as creating a blueprint of UCF’s data ecosystem helping departments understand their data landscape, reduce risk, and support better data governance practices.
Why Is Data Mapping Important?
At its core, data mapping helps UCF track and understand the full lifecycle of its data. This insight plays a vital role in several areas:
- Compliance and Risk Management: UCF must comply with regulations like FERPA, HIPAA, and various state privacy laws. Data mapping helps ensure appropriate handling of sensitive information and restricts access to those with a legitimate need.
- Incident Response and Prevention: When a data breach occurs, data mapping allows UCF teams to quickly identify what data was affected, locate where it resides, and contain the issue faster.
- Operational Efficiency: When departments know what data they manage and how it connects to other systems, they reduce redundancy, improve accuracy, and streamline processes.
- Data Governance: Data mapping supports informed decision-making about data use, access control, and retention timelines across the university.
Why It Matters for Everyone
Whether you work in IT, student services, research, or administration, your role likely involves interacting with data. Supporting data mapping efforts protects the UCF community’s privacy and strengthens the security and integrity of our shared information.
UCF’s Director of Privacy Compliance oversees the university’s data mapping process, ensuring it remains accurate, up to date, and aligned with evolving privacy, security, and compliance requirements. To support this effort, University Compliance and Ethics periodically reaches out to departments to complete the Personal Data Map spreadsheet. This tool helps document the systems each area uses to collect, process, and store data across the university, forming one of the foundations of our institutional data governance strategy.
Data is one of UCF’s most valuable assets. By mapping and managing our data effectively, we help UCF meet its regulatory responsibilities and reduce the risks associated with data collection, processing, and storage.