Get the most out of UBbox collaboration with correct folder management

When you invite someone to collaborate on a folder in UBbox, you can decide what kind of access they can have to your files.

Different roles give others different levels of permission. This ranges from “previewers,” who can look but can’t make changes or download files, to “co-owners.” Co-owners have the same permission to upload, download, edit and delete files as the owner of the folder.

Be careful who you give permissions to! If you give someone permission to ‘delete’ a folder you own, for instance, and they delete it, it will no longer be accessible to you or anyone else collaborating on that folder.

Folders in UBbox by default have just one owner—the person who creates them. This is important, because when employees leave UB, any UBbox files and folders they “own” will disappear.

If your department shares important information in UBbox, dedicate part of your offboarding process to transferring ownership of important folders and files in UBbox.

Designate a new owner for a folder by clicking the three dots next to a collaborator’s name in the “Sharing” column on the right-hand side of the web browser, and selecting “Owner.” 

To avoid losing important files when the owner of those files leaves UB, you can also create a departmental collaboration folder with a separate UBbox account belonging to your entire department. That way the department, and not just one individual, owns the files.

UBIT can create separate accounts in UBbox for a department or an entity, as opposed to a person; contact your IT support staff to set one up for you.

If your work involves collaborating with others using restricted data like social security numbers, passport information, financial information or protected health information, UBbox is a much better alternative to sharing that information over email, which you should never do.

There are a few extra steps you need to take when you want to store restricted data in UBbox. It starts with designating a “data steward” who is responsible for maintaining the security of the information. Then, contact your IT support staff to request a restricted folder with specialized security settings.

Once you’re working with restricted data in UBbox, it’s important to know what restrictions apply. For instance, you can only access restricted data using a UBIT-maintained device, and you should not use desktop sync software like Box Drive, or online tools like Google docs or sheets, or Microsoft Online Word, Excel or PowerPoint. Using these services stores a copy of your data on third-party infrastructure, making it insecure.

Find out more about the rights and responsibilities of storing restricted data in UBbox on the UBIT website.

Request help with UBbox from UBIT—we can even present on best practices for using UBbox to your department. Contact 716-645-3542, visit buffalo.edu/ubit/help, or stop by our Silverman Library service desk on the 3rd floor of Capen.