using-cloud

Using Trello securely

Government staff are responsible for checking the applications they use are secure. This guidance will help you use Trello to work securely with colleagues.

Trello is a cloud application for managing projects and sharing tasks.

Secure your account

Secure your Trello account by using:

• a password made up of 3 random words
• two-factor authentication
• a secure HTTPS connection (ensure this by using a modern browser or a Trello client app

Contact your Trello administrator if you:

• think someone may have accessed your account (you should also change your password immediately
• lose a device that can access Trello (you should also sign yourself out of other sessions

Protect your data

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

• don’t use Trello to store sensitive, personal, or other high value data (like commercial or financial information) that could cause harm if lost or exposed
• create public and private boards as appropriate
• don’t connect Trello to other services

When using Trello, you should also be aware that content can be:

• disclosed publicly under the Freedom of Information Act, as could any information held by government
• retrieved by board owners or central administrators in paid Trello accounts
• seen by Trello staff (card titles show up in Trello system logs, so choose them carefully)

Trello signed-up to the EU-US Privacy Shield which requires them to follow European data protection requirements for European customers. You own the data you put in Trello, 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)
• including a link to the Trello board in related documents
• share boards that may be of historical interest with your information management team
• delete old cards of no historical value to reduce the volume of data that needs to be managed - archived first then delete
• close boards when they are no longer needed

You can export data from Trello by:

• copying and pasting the text (while noting the date)
• print to a PDF
• export to CSV if you have a Business Class (paid for) account
• taking a screenshot
• asking your administrator for an export

Getting started

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

• setting your username to first_last_organisation (for example alex_black_moj)
• use a recognisable profile photo
• add your role to the Bio section

Your Trello profile is public, but doesn’t show up in web searches or include activity, comments, cards, organisation, or other details, except on boards that are public.

You can alert others to content you have shared on Trello using @mention in a card comment (for example @alex_black_moj). Take the Trello tour to find out more.

Getting help

For help using Trello, you can use their:

• getting started guide
• help pages

Trello 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.