The Editor’s Guide to Handling Personally Identifiable Information (PII)

June 2025

As you continue to explore the many ways to showcase key individuals such as faculty, staff, alumni, and students on your Georgetown websites using the WordPress People Profiles system, we want to share an important reminder about privacy and approval responsibilities.

The profile system pulls existing faculty data from GU360 if applicable. It also allows information to be manually added in WordPress for those with no GU360 profile. The interface for adding profiles is the same whether your site is in the Whitehaven theme or the 1789 theme.

While our WordPress tools make it easy to highlight your community with flexibility and style, it is important to remember that any personally identifiable information (PII) you display must be approved by the individual. This is particularly important when you manually add personally identifiable information using WordPress. This includes names, biographies, photos, contact details, and links to personal websites. These profiles are visible to the public beyond the Georgetown community, and it is your responsibility as the site editor to ensure that the featured individuals have explicitly consented to having their information published online.

GU360 and WordPress: What You Need to Know

If a person already has a public profile in GU360, their information will automatically replace any manually entered data in WordPress. GU360 is the system of record, and your WordPress site will pull updates every day for those with a linked NetID. When pulling the data from GU360, WordPress will follow the faculty member’s privacy selections so in these cases, you do not need to obtain separate approval. If the faculty member has elected to not have a publically available email address or other piece of data, it will not be displayed on the WordPress site.

If the person does not have a GU360 profile and you choose to create a profile manually in WordPress, then you are responsible for reaching out to that individual to obtain permission before publishing their information. This means confirming their approval for all content you plan to display, particularly sensitive details such as phone numbers, email addresses, and photographs. It is imperative that all photos and contact information are validated and approved by the featured adult subject, and any minor subjects or students have to be approved by the designated responsible adult.

If you are creating a profile for a student, you must also make sure the content complies with FERPA, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. FERPA is a federal law that protects the privacy of student education records and limits the types of information that can be shared without the student’s explicit, written consent. Always confirm that students have agreed to share their information publicly and that you are not publishing any academic or personally identifying details beyond what FERPA allows.

Seemingly simple biographical information can carry risks when made public.

As web editors, we must be careful and respectful in how we manage public-facing content. Consent and transparency are more important than ever. If you are not sure whether someone wants their profile shared or what specific information they are comfortable making public, it is best to ask them directly.

A Quick Checklist for Profiles

✓ Confirm the person is not already in GU360

✓ Reach out to the individual and get their written approval

✓ Double-check which content they are comfortable sharing

✓ Only publish once you’ve received consent

As always, thank you for your careful stewardship of Georgetown’s digital presence. Happy (and responsible) editing! 🖥️✨

WordPress and Accessibility Office Hours

We will continue to hold both Web Accessibility and WordPress office hours every Tuesday afternoon over Zoom throughout the year.

WordPress office hours appointments are every Tuesday, 2:30–3:30 p.m. via Zoom. You can sign up for an appointment slot (for any future office hours date!) here. Please note that we are unable to accommodate unscheduled appointments. If you are currently experiencing an issue outside of office hours, or wish to submit a feature request, please use this form to capture that information.

Web Accessibility office hours are every Tuesday, 2:00–3:00 p.m. via Zoom. You can talk through accessibility-related questions with Kevin Andrews, Electronic and Information Technology Accessibility Coordinator. Please schedule a web accessibility office hours appointment here.