Customer Data ManagementCustomer Data Management

What we use the data for

To help facilitate quick resolution of customer problems, we from time to time need access to the actual data stored in Pure. The complexity of the system data model and the flexible data query patterns that is supported in the application, often requires actual production data to effectively and properly diagnose and fix problems in live systems. 

Additionally, as part of the ongoing feature development, we can more efficiently develop and test the application under various data distributions, including upgrade verification if we have access to customer data. 

In both situations we use the data to either solve problems, or ensure that the product will work well with real data, which in the end helps provide a superior customer experience. 

The data obtained is only used in these contexts, and will never be shared outside or with 3^rd party data processors. It is solely used by the engineering teams during bug fixing and feature development. 

We will seek approval before obtaining customer data from live systems. However, to help us better serve you, it is possible to setup a continuous data export policy in Pure. You go into the pure under Administrator → Support → Database export. 

When continuous data export is setup, it will setup to run at the end of the month at a random day between the 20-25th. On that day it will run at a random hour between 8-12pm. Once the date and time is picked, it will keep that schedule until the feature is disabled.

Here you can specify what your data can be used for, where you have the following options:

General development and bug fixing

• Make your data available for the Elsevier Pure team to use it during the development of new features.

Feature testing

• A feature has been developed and requires testing on a production data set, to help us identify and fix potential errors in the new features.
• You are welcome to write an additional note if you would like to be contacted regarding new feature development.
• You are not guaranteed to be involved, but if we are using your data to develop a new feature, we might reach out to you for feedback.

Bug fixing on issues created by my institution

• Helps detect and fix your specific reported defects
• We will only use the data dump when fixing issues which have been reported by your institution.

Migration testing

• To test that a Pure upgrade can continue successfully without any interruptions or migration errors.
• Provides peace of mind that your next Pure version will not encounter errors due to your data.
• You are more than welcome to only tick this option, as this also helps us deliver a more stable product to you and your peers.

How we use the data

The customer data is stored in our highly secure cloud, and access to the data is only granted to employees with legitimate business purposes as set out in "What we use the data for". Extensive auditing and retention controls have been put in place to ensure proper audit trail for the data, as well as the possibility of revoking access to the customer data.

Staff that may access the data during testing are under confidentiality agreements.

How we ensure data privacy

• Encryption of servers on which the data resides using industry standard encryption
• Encryption of data in transit from Pure application servers and the customer data management system using industry standard encryption
• Data into the customer data management system is only accessible to authorised staff, with proper access credentials
• Audit trail for all customer data actions that have occurred in the customer data management system, which is available to customers to review when needed.

Data retention

• As part of providing data to the customer data management system, you are in control of the data retention. Before the data is submitted into the customer data management system, you must provide the data retention schedule.
• The Customer Data Management System provides full audit trail, including when the customer data was deleted from the system

Revoking data usage permission

You can at any time revoke permission for any data that you have previously granted Elsevier permission to use.  

• The customer data management system will remove all data currently managed by the system.
• Full audit trail, including when the customer data was deleted from the system is available to you.

Internal Protocol and Education

• Elsevier employees receive regular data privacy and security awareness training. We equip employees with the knowledge to understand, identify, and mitigate security risks by providing role-­based secure application development training, phishing simulation tests, and privacy and security campaigns.
• Elsevier employees have a confidentiality clause in their employment contract that enforce strict confidentiality in context of customer data and customer information.