Data Retention Policy

Stanford Medicine

Course data and lecture media is retained for up to five years

Course data in Canvas can include assignments, quizzes, student grades, course files, and messages. Courses and their data are available starting the quarter during which they are offered, and are then archived and can be accessed for up to five years. After that time, the courses and their data will be deleted. Email medcanvas@stanford.edu for help accessing archived courses.

On request Stanford Medicine will record classroom activities that take place in the Li Ka Shing Center and Alway Building. The recordings are published as streaming video, .mp4 video, and .mp3 audio files and made available via either a Canvas course or stand-alone lecture media page. Classroom recordings are available to SUNet ID holders for up to five years. Submit a support request for help in locating media from a course or event.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the temporary transition to remote learning via Zoom, EdTech has manually archived Zoom lecture media from Spring 2020, Fall 2020, and Winter 2021 courses in the core MD curriculum. These Zoom recordings are available via the course lecture media pages embedded in each course's Canvas instance.

Canvas and the lecture media system are not certified for patient health information. Faculty and course directors are responsible for reviewing any lecture materials and removing PHI content prior to capture.

For any planned lectures that may contain PHI, such as patient interviews, the course director or faculty must notify Medscheduler that PHI will be present during an event and that capture for that event should be cancelled.  Any media that is suspected to contain PHI will be withheld pending verification and, if PHI is present, that media will be deleted.

Lecture Media Retention Process

Day of event

Capture will run from scheduled start through scheduled end of session and media will be published 3-5 hours after scheduled end of session. Published media will include streaming video, .mp4 video, .mp3 audio, and any associated .pdfs.

End of quarter

At the end of the quarter, the Canvas course or lecture media page will be archived. The page will be accessible via direct URL and SUNet authentication for up to five years. Submit a support request for help finding archived lecture media pages from courses or events.

End of quarter
+ 5 years

At the end of the quarter plus five years, the original requestor will be notified via email that the media is set to expire. There will be a four-month grace period during which the requestor can review expiring files and download any that they wish to keep. At the end of the four-month grace period, the links to the media will be deactivated and the media will be deleted shortly thereafter.

Support Contacts

Space scheduling and reservations:
650-723-6952 | M-F 7 AM - 6 PM

Classroom technical support:
650-724-7370 | M-F 7 AM - 6 PM

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