Ethics, Compliance and Audit Services
Foreign Travel Notifications
UC travelers can receive important information on their trip through an auto-generated email. The email covers destination-specific information on topics ranging from health and safety to insurance.
For international travel, Ethics, Compliance and Audit Services (ECAS) at the Office of the President (UCOP) added the messages below to alert travelers across the university system to potential export control requirements or other risks. Travelers receive only information corresponding to their countries of travel.
1. Travel to countries under comprehensive sanctions (Cuba, Iran, North Korea, and Syria):
“Your trip includes travel to a country under comprehensive U.S. sanctions that may impact your activities. Travel to these countries, and interactions with organizations or individuals in them, are highly regulated. Prior to traveling, special permission from the U.S. government in the form of a license may be required for any of the following activities:
- Financial transactions
- Providing a service (of any kind)
- Conference attendance or presentations
- Conducting research
- Education or outreach
- Hand carrying laptops, equipment, material or information as part of your travel
Contact your local Export Control Office for more information. They will help ensure that your travel and business abroad is successful.”
2. Travel to countries deemed a national security risk by the U.S. (Belarus, Russia, China, Venezuela, and Burma):
“Your trip includes travel to a country where the U.S. government has heightened concerns that civilian goods or services may be diverted to a military use or user.
University-owned items or information you bring may require an electronic export information (EEI) filing prior to leaving the U.S. Examples include:
- Laptop or smartphone
- Equipment or instruments
- Research samples or data
- Proprietary or export controlled information
Contact your local Export Control Office for more information. They will help ensure that your travel and business abroad is successful.”
3. Travel to Ukraine [region-specific]:
“If your trip to Ukraine includes certain regions, including Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk, U.S. sanctions apply. Regulations update frequently, so other regions may be added. Travel to sanctioned areas and interactions with organizations or individuals in these regions are highly regulated. Prior to traveling, special permission from the U.S. government in the form of a license may be required for any of the following activities:
- Financial transactions
- Providing a service (of any kind)
- Conference attendance or presentations
- Conducting research
- Education or outreach
- Hand carrying laptops, equipment, material or information as part of your travel
Contact your local Export Control Office for more information. They will help ensure that your travel and business abroad is successful.”
Data Protection
If you are traveling with electronic devices, it is important to take steps to protect and secure information stored on those devices. Consider some of the following steps to protect your information:
- Leave your data or laptop at home or use a loaner laptop wiped clean before your trip
- Backup your data
- Use a Virtual Private Network (VPN)
- Password protect (secure) or encrypt (more secure) your hard drive
- Maintain physical control of your devices at all times, or secure them in a locked desk or hotel safe to prevent theft or unauthorized access
- Only connect trusted items to your devices (e.g. thumb drives or wireless devices)
Contact your local IT administrator for assistance if needed. For more information on IT security guidance, visit the Systemwide Information Security website.
Hand carrying computers, research materials, samples or equipment
When you travel abroad, everything you take with you is an export including hand carried equipment, research materials, and unpublished or proprietary information or data. Your local Export Control Office can determine whether an export license is required to travel with these items.