At UBC, researchers are responsible to ensure the research information (data) collected, processed, stored, and shared meets the university security and privacy requirements, as well as applicable provincial, national, and international regulations. It is necessary to classify information based on the risk level to ensure that it receives the appropriate protection.
Classification Table
Classification | Research Information Examples | Potential Impact | |
 | Low Risk | ||
| Information that would cause minimal harm if disclosed, or may be freely disclosed. |
| Minor embarrassment, minor operational disruptions. | |
 | Medium Risk | ||
| Information that is not protected by law or industry regulation from unauthorized access, use or destruction, but could cause harm to UBC or others if released to unauthorized individuals. |
| Reputational and financial impact, loss of priority of publication, loss of access to journals and other copyrighted materials | |
 | High Risk | ||
| Information that must be protected by law or industry regulation from unauthorized access, use or destruction, and could cause moderate harm if disclosed. | Most research data involving human participants would fall under this, at a minimum.
| Moderate harm to one or more individuals, identity theft, impact to University reputation or operations, financial loss such as regulatory fines | |
 | Very High Risk | ||
| Information that must be protected by law or industry regulation from unauthorized access, use or destruction, and could cause significant harm if disclosed. |
| Significant harm to one or more individuals, identity theft, severe impact to university reputation or operations, financial loss such as regulatory fines or damages from litigation | |