uApprove at the University of Auckland

Purpose of uApprove

The University of Auckland is a member of the Tuakiri New Zealand Access Federation which provides a mechanism for connecting members of the education and research sectors enabling students, academics, alumni and researchers to get secure and seamless access to computing resources and collaboration environments using one set of credentials granted by their home organisation.

In order to meet one of the obligations of participating in Tuakiri New Zealand Access Federation we have implemented uApprove. This functionality provides you with the opportunity to make informed consent about the release of your personal information by the University to an external application when you log in using your University of Auckland credentials.  The attributes that are passed to these sites are used for authentication, authorisation and selecting the appropriate services which you can access.

The uApprove process

When logging into an application via Tuakiri you may be asked to:

  • Consent to the release of certain attributes
  • Select the length of your consent - either for one session or for 12 months

If you select to consent only to the current session the next time you access the same application you will be asked for consent again.  If you select the 12 month option you will not be asked for consent again until one of the following happens, 12 months has elapsed, your details change or the site you are accessing changes the attributes that they request from the University.

Should you decide that you do not want any of your details released you can decline to give consent but you will not be able to log into the application.

What attributes might be released?

During the login process the site you are attempting to access will request details about you to determine who you are, if you are entitled to login and what sort of access you have in that application. The University’s uApprove process asks you to consent to the release of the personal details listed below, note that the actual attributes you need to consent on will vary depending on the application you are accessing.

  • University ID number
  • Username
  • Last name
  • First name
  • Display name (preferred name)
  • Common name (preferred name)
  • Affiliation with the University
  • Primary email address
  • All email addresses
  • Primary campus or work address
  • Campus or work phone number
  • Mobile number
  • ORCID

There are other attributes that may also be passed which are not included in the University’s consent process.  If you want more information about the attributes which are released during the login process please refer to one of the options below:

  • https://attributes.tuakiri.ac.nz/ - this is a service which will allow you to see the full list of attributes that the University of Auckland might release about you. As with the personal attributes listed above different applications will want different information, this service gives a list of all the possible options.
  • Details about the exact list of attributes which are released by the University to a specific application can be provided on request
  • https://tuakiri.ac.nz/confluence/display/Tuakiri/Attributes - this provides more technical information about the consent process

If you have further questions please contact us for assistance.