Valencia College institutes physical and virtual safeguards designed to protect the highly sensitive data of our students and employees. Whether you access sensitive data daily through Valencia's networks or use your phone to surf the web, any online activity can provide a vulnerability for criminals to exploit and access sensitive information. Some of the safeguards Valencia has in place to protect this sensitive information is provided below.
Table of Contents
-Which social media apps and sites are prohibited?
-Why are these sites not accessible?
-Can I access these sites when I am not on campus or working from home?
-Can I access these sites while I'm using my cell phone or personal device?
-What is a college-issued or college-owned device?
-Can I still use TikTok for my class?
The following social media applications (apps) and sites will no longer be accessible when using college-issued equipment or when personal devices are connected to the Valencia College network: TikTok, QQ, WeChat, VKontakte, and Kaspersky.
Effective Monday, Feb. 26, the Valencia College firewall will prohibit access to the above-listed sites and applications and any subsidiary or affiliate sites.
Valencia College is taking steps to comply with Section 112.22, F.S., which was enacted in last year’s Senate Bill 258 - Prohibited Applications on Government-issued Devices. The law requires the College, as a public entity, to block all prohibited applications from public access on any network and virtual private network that the College owns, operates, or maintains, and to restrict access to any prohibited application on a College-issued device. Prohibited applications, as recently identified by the Florida Department of Management Services, include TikTok, QQ, WeChat, VKontakte, and Kaspersky.
These sites will not be accessible when using college-issued devices even if you are working at home.
Installation or use of the above-mentioned apps and sites is prohibited on college-owned devices. If you have installed any of the prohibited apps on a college-owned device, please remove and cease using them.
When working remotely, you may access these apps and sites if you are using a personal device i.e., a cell phone, that is not connected to the Valencia College network.
If you are using a personal device while connected to the Valencia College network or Wi-Fi, you will not be able to access these sites. Network-based restrictions will prevent the use of prohibited technologies on the Valencia College network by any device.
However, the restriction on the use of prohibited social media apps and sites on college-issued devices does not extend to personal use on personal devices that are not connected to the Valencia College network.
A college-issued or college-owned device is any device such as a desktop or laptop computer, tablet or cell phone that has been procured and provided by Valencia College.
No. In order to comply with SB 258 and continue to protect the Valencia College network, you will not be able to use TikTok or other prohibited applications even for academic purposes.