using-cloud

Using JIRA Cloud

As a government user we expect a good degree of sophistication when working with data. We have a shared responsibility to keep the right things safe. This guidance will help you use JIRA Cloud to collaborate securely with colleagues.

JIRA Cloud is an issue and task tracking application, developed by Atlassian. It provides bug tracking, issue tracking, and project management functions.

Securing your account

Secure your JIRA Cloud account by using:

• a password made up of 3 random words
• a secure (HTTPS) connection and a modern browser or JIRA mobile app

If you have a corporate Google (G Suite) account use this to log in to JIRA, and enable two factor authentication on that account.

Tell your JIRA administrator if you:

• think someone may have accessed your account
• lose a device that can access your JIRA account (you should also reset your password)

Protecting your data

To protect your data when using JIRA, make sure you:

• don't use JIRA to store sensitive, personal, or other high value data (like commercial or financial information) that could cause harm or embarrassment if lost or exposed
• restrict access to boards when you need to control access

When using JIRA, you should also be aware that content, including archived or private content, can be:

• disclosed publicly under the Freedom of Information Act
• backed up and viewed by administrators in JIRA accounts, including content not shared with them
• subject to legal requests to share data by courts, government agencies, or parties involved in litigation in the US

Atlassian - the company that runs JIRA - have signed up to the EU-US Privacy Shield which requires them to follow European data protection requirements for personal data for their European customers. You own the data you put in JIRA, and their technical security is similar to other popular public cloud services.

Managing information

You must record or summarise important work in a permanent record at regular intervals or at the end of a piece of work.

Make sure you don’t lose content by:

• creating a permanent record of shared information at regular intervals or at the end of a piece of work
• using your document storage or email service to capture important discussions or decisions (name the data so it can be found later)

You can export data from JIRA by:

• copying and pasting the text (while noting the date)
• asking your administrator for a backup
• printing cards either to paper or PDF

Getting started

Ensure your account looks official and similar to other government JIRA accounts by:

• setting your full name in your profile
• use a recognisable profile photo
• add your role to the Job title section
• add your organisation

Getting help

For help using JIRA, you can read their getting started guide or their getting help pages.

Atlassian offer support through a:

• support page

• status page

You may also get help from your internal IT team if they have agreed to do it.