What Security Features To Look for in PDF Software

Document and information security are important factors when choosing PDF software for schools, teachers, and students in the remote classroom. Ensuring information and documents are safe in the hands of the software provider and that nobody without the right authority has access to delete or tamper with documents are vital aspects of maintaining a secure remote classroom. In addition, personal information needs to be protected at all times.

Keeping all of this in mind, we realize that it can be difficult to keep track of all the features and make sure the software you choose for your remote classroom meets or exceeds all expectations.

Important Safety & Security Features of PDF Software

Not all PDF software includes the standard security features necessary for a secure document management system in a school environment. It's important to determine which features are important for your classroom or school and use this information to determine which software or tools are the right choice for your institution. Most importantly, you need to understand the minimum document security requirements the software you’re choosing needs to meet.

Here, we outline some of the standard document security features and accreditations that PDF tools should carry.

GDPR Compliance

GDPR (or General Data Protection Regulation) is a European Union (EU) law covering privacy and data protection in the EU and the EEA.

CCPA Compliance

CCPA (or The California Consumer Privacy Act) acts a lot like GDPR, aiming to protect both the consumer and their privacy rights. The CCPA is intended for people living in California, USA.

ISO/IEC 27001 Accreditation

ISO/IEC 27001 is named after its joint-issuing organization, the International Organization for Standardization. The international standard was released in 2013 and outlines best practices for organizations to manage information security via people, processes, and technology.

SSL/TLS Encryption

SSL encryption, or Secure Sockets Layer encryption, is a special protocol for internet servers and browsers to encrypt, decrypt, and authenticate transmitted information. Its successor, TLS encryption, or Transport Layer Security is a more modern, even more secure protocol.

Digital Signing

Digital signatures are very useful for signing documents, as they come with a level of security (through authentication) that e-signatures do not. Depending on your requirements, you may need to ensure that the e-signature service you’re using offers this enhanced security feature.

Note: Both e-signatures and digital signatures are legally binding. Check your country's laws for localized regulations related to digital and e-signatures.

Digital Seal

A digital seal, or Advanced Electronic Signature (AES), includes a Long-Term Validation (LTV) timestamp. This helps users authenticate each signature's timestamp and invalidate documents that have been tampered with.

Checking Information & Document Security Requirements

As teachers and administrative staff prepare to buy document management or PDF software licenses to distribute across schools and classrooms, it's important to invest in software that responds well to the school, district, state, or even federal policies, protocols, and laws around information and document security.

As laws and policies can differ as granularly as by district, it’s advisable to check in locally about any specific requirements that need to be met when investing in PDF tools for their schools and classrooms. Teaching and administrative staff should work together to understand what they can and must look out for when choosing the right software for their school.

If your school or classroom is looking for PDF tools that check all the boxes for safety and security, register for a free trial of Smallpdf for Teams today and experience the future of secure document management for education.