Answers to common questions about PennBox can be found below.
Basics
If you have a PennKey and one of the following active affiliations in PennCommunity: Student, Faculty, Staff, Temporary Staff, Service Provider, Contingent Worker, Emeritus Retired Faculty, or HUP Corporate (HCOR), open a supported web browser to this address http://box.upenn.edu(link is external). Since PennBox is Single Sign-On (SSO), you may or may not need to authenticate, depending on whether you have already authenticated to a Penn web resource earlier that day. You will automatically provision a PennBox for yourself. Students listed in Pennant as being on medical leave will also maintain access to the service.
Important: Box is a centrally managed service. The account default email address uses the format <pennkey>@upenn.edu instead of a school or center specific address. Do NOT delete the <pennkey>@upenn.edu address from the account. Instead, link your school or center specific email as a secondary address on the account. Content shared to any email address linked to a PennBox account can be accessed by logging into that account.
There is no cost for group accounts. The PTIC fund covers individual accounts with a 1 TB quota.
1 TB (effective October 18, 2022)
A higher storage limit is available on a case-by-case basis subject to an additional fee. See our PennBox Rates page(link is external) for more information.
The maximum file size that can be uploaded through the PennBox web app is 50GB. The larger the file, the more difficult it will be to download.
Please store no more than 4096 files per folder. If you need to store more than 4096 files on Penn+Box, create new folder(s) for the additional files.
PennBox data is only accessible on mobile devices by using the Box app for the corresponding platform, available on the corresponding app store: iOS App Store, or Android's Google Play Store.
Launch the Box app; tap “Use Single Sign On (SSO)”; type pennname@upenn.edu(link is external); authenticate with your PennKey and password; set a 4 digit PIN
Effective October 25, 2022, a new rolling account deprovisioning and archiving cadence, with three-month account and twelve-month data management interval process will be put into place.
- Start: Recent inactive user archive - (inactive since < October 2021) will be identified and then those inactive users’ data will be placed in an “active” archive labeled October 2021.
- January 2023 (+3 Months): Those accounts from the “active” archive labeled October 2021 will be deleted. A new inactive accounts user archive will be identified since < October 2022), and that data will be placed in a new “holding” archive of Oct 2022, and a new group of inactive users at the time will be placed in an “active” archive of Oct 2022.
- Three-month intervals of account archives continue (e.g. user accounts > April 2023, July 2023, October 2023 etc.).
- October 2023 (1 year): Those inactive accounts will be deleted, and the data from such deleted accounts will be placed in a “holding” archive Oct 2022 for a period of one year.
- Twelve months prior data archive deletion continues in a rolling three-month interval (e.g. > October 2023, January 2024, April 2024 etc.)
Ideally, before you leave, you should work with your supervisor to identify any data that your School/Center needs to maintain, and transfer ownership accordingly. If you don't transfer ownership to a new owner for any data with active collaboration, your collaborators will experience problems accessing that data when your account becomes inactive. For any other non-collaboration data which you own that you'd like to keep, be sure to download that data before you leave Penn, since you cannot continue to access PennBox once your active eligible affiliation expires.
Troubleshooting
This form was chosen since it facilitates SSO. The <pennkey>@upenn.edu identity should not be removed from the account.
To provision a PennBox account, you must have a PennKey and at least one of the following affiliations in PennCommunity: Student (STU), Staff (STAF), Faculty (FAC), Temporary (TEMP), Contingent worker (CTWK), Emeritus Retired Faculty/Staff (ERF), Service Provider Active (SERV), Corporate on HUP Payroll (HCOR).
Be sure you are entering your PennKey credentials correctly. You can test your PennKey at http://www.upenn.edu/computing/pennkey/(link is external). Are your required affiliations “Active” in PennCommunity (see above)? Are you using the Single Sign-On URL (http://box.upenn.edu)?
You may have two Box accounts. Try logging in to your account using the following URL: https://account.box.com/login(link is external), then try logging into http://box.upenn.edu(link is external). The first URL is a box.com commodity account. The second URL is for PennBox access.
The most likely reason is the person who sent the invite sent it to your school or center specific email address and that address is not linked to your account. Linking and confirming the email address as a secondary address on your account will solve this issue. Other causes are as follows:
- The inviter didn't add you as a collaborator but sent you a shared link. The folder would only show up in your account if you were added as a collaborator. All items shared using only a link will need to be accessed using that link.
- You were invited as a collaborator but haven't accepted the invite yet. By default, PennBox is set up to auto-accept collaborator invites. Each user has the ability to manage that preference for their account. Check your account settings. If they aren't set to auto-accept an invite you'll need to manually accept it either by clicking the link in the invite email or checking the Pending Items manager using the instructions found here: https://support.box.com/hc/en-us/articles/360044195073-Accept-and-Reject-Invitations-from-Collaborators(link is external)
You and your invitee can follow these troubleshooting steps:
- Verify the invite was sent to the correct email address.
- Verify the invitee was added as a collaborator instead of being sent a shared link. The folder would only show up in their account if they were added as a collaborator. All items shared using only a link will need to be accessed using that link.
- Have the invitee check the Pending Items manager in their account using the steps found here: https://support.box.com/hc/en-us/articles/360044195073-Accept-and-Reject-Invitations-from-Collaborators(link is external)
Try these troubleshooting steps in order:
- Verify the notification settings on the account and folder are both set to allow the expected notifications using the instructions found here: https://support.box.com/hc/en-us/articles/360044196513-Manage-Account-Settings#h_01GKQJA759FBJNMWCNV7S3Z3WB(link is external)
- Check your junk folder and any quarantine tools the school or center are utilizing. Reach out to your local IT Support team for assistance, if needed.
- Contact help@isc.upenn.edu(link is external) for further assistance.
Settings and features
The default email address is set at the time of account creation and uses the format <pennkey>@upenn.edu. Our processes, including single sign on and determining user eligibility for the PennBox service, rely on this email. Changing it could result in a disruption of service for you. In order to avoid that, we have restricted the ability to change the default email address; however, you can still link additional email addresses to your account as secondary addresses by following these instructions: https://support.box.com/hc/en-us/articles/360044196513-Manage-Account-Settings#loginandemail(link is external).
Yes. Linking other Penn email addresses to your account is recommended. Errors encountered when doing so may be attributed to the new address already existing in Box.com. Box will only allow one instance of an email address in their systems. Check for other Box.com accounts before linking a secondary email.
How to link a secondary email: https://support.box.com/hc/en-us/articles/360044196513-Manage-Account-Settings#loginandemail(link is external)
No! If the pennname@upenn.edu account is removed from a PennBox account, SSO will no longer function, and potentially a 2nd PennBox account may be created for a user when logging in to box.upenn.edu.
DocuSign is now available as an integration with the PennBox service, providing users with a seamless and efficient way to manage electronic signatures and document workflows. This integration enhances the functionality of PennBox, making it easier to complete and manage agreements electronically. While the DocuSign integration offers many benefits, there are specific restrictions regarding the types of data it can be used with. It is crucial for users to be aware of these restrictions to ensure compliance and data security.
Types of Restricted Data
- Personally Identifiable Information (PII)
- Protected Health Information (PHI)
- Financial Information
- FERPA data carries additional caveats (see link below)
- Any other “High Risk” data as defined by the Penn’s data policies at https://www.isc.upenn.edu/security/data-classification#HIGH(link is external)
Further Information
For detailed information about the restrictions and guidelines for using DocuSign with PennBox, please refer to the Brokered Products page at https://www.isc.upenn.edu/brokered-products-portfolio(link is external), and choose DocuSign to see important details under Capacity Assumptions / Restrictions.
- Box.com says: https://support.box.com/hc/en-us/articles/360044194833-Box-HIPAA-and-HITECH-Overview-and-FAQ(link is external)
- Information Security says it depends on the School or Center having the proper controls and processes in place.
- Penn does have a business associate agreement (BAA) with Box.
While we do have a BAA in place, there has not been a blanket approval from the University. Generally speaking, it depends on local Schools and Centers.
Check with your school/center to be sure and discuss any questions/uncertainties with a Privacy Officer(link is external).