Fillable Printable Sample Email Policy Template

Sample Email Policy Template

School Board of Levy County

E-MAIL AND Computer Use POLICY

Policy:

The compute r syst em in your o ffice, classroom, or other area is the property of the Schoo l Board of Levy County

(SBLC) and is intended to be used for approved educational pur po s es only. You have no expectation of pri vacy with

our governmental computer s on site. You have no expectation of privacy accessin g our s erver from off-site locations.

There is no personal use of the computer incl ud ing but not limited to the following activities: 1) e -mail

communication that contains in the bo dy of the e-mail message itself or attachment conte nt that can be construed in

nature as terrorist, racial, sexual, ethnic, gender, or age offensive; 2) personal financial information trans mitted

through te xt o r pictorial attach ments; 3) takin g your computer off the filtering proxy or attempting to bypass the

proxy set up to be in complianc e with the Chil d Internet P r otection Act; 4) attempting to hack into servers or systems

located within o ur local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN), o r off sit e locations; 5) i ns talling o r loading

software on a SB LC computer without proper approval. Any questio ns on whe the r a message or Internet site

qualifies as r easonable business p urpose

sho uld be directed to the human resources department before going on-line.

Comments/Procedures:

1). No Exp ecta tion of Privacy: As providers of the computer equipment and ser vers. Federal and State laws give us

the rig ht to monito r your b usiness communications o n our c omp ut ers . This st at utory aut hority is based on ens uring

the appropriateness of business communications, random computer system checks and actual and i mplied consent by

the u ser 's written acknowledgment of clearly understanding this policy. The act of signing this document signifies the

user clearly u nderstands the policy and agrees to execute this policy in good faith. Additionally, the user waives any

privacy rights or claims of inad equate t rai ning (42 USCS 1983 &27), that SBLC showed a deliberate indifference in

properly training the user on the proper use of the computer at work.

2) Public Records: The user of SBLC computers recognizes they are bou nd by state public record laws, and

documents that are created to formalize knowledge or transact business of SBLC are considered p ublic record and

are o pen t o the revi ew a nd cop yi ng o f the genera l public. This incl udes all wor k records on yo ur compute r system,

data tr a nsmitted over our server fro m on site or off-site locations and portable media such as disks, floppy disks,

CD's and any other transportable media. All records must be retained according to Chapter 119 of the Florida Public

Records Statute.

Prohibit e d Ac tivities

General Prohibitions: There absolutely can be no creation, downloading fro m another web site, linkage to another

web site, transmittal from your computer to a co-worker c omputer or outside c omputer infor matio n that is: 1)

har assing; 2) defamatory; 3) discriminato ry; 4) profane; 5) violates federal cop yright, and t r ad emark law and federal

or state trade secret laws, or violate s o ther fed e ral and state civil or criminal statutes. It is incumbent upo n the

computer user of SBLC computer equipme nt to familiarize themselves with the basics of what specific

communication trig gers sexual harassment, other harassment, copyright, trademark and other relevant computer

abuse laws. If a computer user has an uncertainty whether their behavior co uld violate a federal or state statute, they

have an affirmative o bligatio n to co ntac t their in-house attorney or human resources department before using the

computer.

Lack of knowledge is not a defense to computer abuse or violation of la ws. Computer user waives all defenses that

they were inadequately trained o r not clearly warned about the necessity of being educated on all federal and state

laws re garding computer abus e and cr imi nal activity. Up on s igning an acknowledgment of cle arly under s ta nding this

policy a greeme nt, the computer user recognizes a higher duty of care in using the computer because text based

messages, pictures, audio and video, and documents can reach a large audience within seconds.

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Wa ste of Computer Resources: Computer users understand there are Federal and State laws prohibiting Spam mail-

unsolicited mail or mass mail—or chain letters. The comput er user will not monopolize Internet access or negatively

affec t the bandwidth in any manner that transcends normal computer use (ie: act ions by you or students which consist

of downloading MP3’s, listening to radio programs, or watching TV broadcasts in the classroom except as used as

part of the regular instructional pr ogram of a school).

E-Mail Myths: Computer users understand that based on the architecture of the Internet or Intranet, thei r e-mail and

attachments may cross other servers before the intended receiver receives the correspondence. This means the user

realizes their message or attachment may be intercepted and the security of e-mail or the Internet is vulnera ble.

Ther efore, s endi ng confidential infor mation could be risky. Additionally, the computer us e r also rea liz e s all e-mails

must be screened before forwarding to another person or a distribution list. The co mputer user is liable for any

defamatory or haras si ng e-mail that is forwarded to a third par ty. Further, the computer user is also liable for both

opening up and forwar ding non-work related, unknown or suspicious e-mail that contain s a virus. If you are

uncerta in a bo ut t he origins o f an e-mail or attachment, don't forward it, contact human resources or your in-house

attorney.

Deleting E-Mail: W hen you press the delete key, your e-mail is not deleted. The space is marked as free space but

your e-mail is copied on another sector of your hard drive or central server. Your old e-mail can easily be retrieved

by a computer forensic specialist or other person from yo ur hard drive, server or other backup device. There is

sophisticated software that mines all your e -mail and other documents.

Anonymous E-Mail, Chat Room Discussions or Bulletin Boards: The computer is not allowed to send or forward

anonymous or pseudonymous e-mail. It is a direct violation of this policy to send or forward anonymous or

pseudonymous e-mail through a remailer or other software or decoding device. Additionally, no chat room or bulletin

board will be accessed for sending, forwarding, uploading or downloading unless given written approval by your

supervisor or human r eso urces. No chat room or bulletin board will ever be used as a forum for negative, offensive,

harassing, defamatory or non-busi ne ss discussi ons.

any way infringe upon the exclusive rights of reproduction, distribution, adaptation, public performance and public

display of an on-line or off-line copyrighted work. N ot all wo rks o n the Internet or Intra net a re i n t he public domain.

The computer user must check with the in-house attorney or human resources if there is any uncertainty whether an

article or software is copyrighted. Additionally, it is a violation of the Digital M illenniu m Act to remove any

penalties for violating the Federal copyright laws and interna tional copyright treaties.

Trademark Infringement: No symbol, logo, phrase or other trademark can be uploaded, downloaded, transmitted to

another computer, used i n a web site or hyperlinked to another web site without the express permission of the

trademark owner. Trademark i nfringement carries stiff civil a nd c r iminal penalties.

Web Linking, Framing and Metatags: Linking with o ther web sites is strictly prohibited unless prope r a uthor iz a tion

is given from human re s our ces or your in-house a ttorney. When yo u link with another web site, i t can give the

appearance you sponsor that site's content. Additionally, no other web site can be framed within your web site unless

expre ss permission ha s been give n by human resource s or yo ur attorney. Fi nally, whe n cons t ructing a web site, the

design of Metatags (cod e s used to identify material to a sear ch engine for indexing) must be authorized by human

resources or yo ur in-ho use attorney.

Passwords: Password s are for internal use and are not allowed to be distributed to an yone without the e xpress

permission of yo ur supervisor or other superior. Passwords are also not to be shared. They are for the exclusive use

of the person to whom they have been assigned. Additionally, passwords do not create an expectation of privacy

when it comes to employer monito r ing.

Off-Si t e Use O f SBLC Com put ers: Off-site use of SBLC computers includes but is not limited to home, car, hotel a nd

other off-site locations. You have no expectatio n of privacy at off-site loc a tions. Additionally, you must ad her e to all

the same policy restrictions as if yo u were using the computer on-site. T he tempta ti on o f info rmality in yo ur

computer usage carries a higher d uty of care and responsibilit y. When using a SBLC computer all off-site computer

communication must have a business purpose and all federal and state civil and criminal laws mus t be r espected.

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Litigation: In the event of litig a tion, all computer users are on notice t hat federa l a nd state civil rule s of procedure

may al low discovery of all computer hardware and software. This includes but isn't limited to your of fice computer,

laptop, home computer, printers, cell phones and other equipment. Any attempt to damage or destroy evidence in

your computer wi ll trigger sti ff civil and criminal penalties. I f your computer equip ment is subpoenaed or yo u

anticipate litigation, contact your in-house attorney or human resources for guidance on how to proceed.

Amendments: This policy may be amended or revised from time to time as need arises. Users will be provided with

copies of all amend ments a nd revisions. Any interpretation of this p olic y as it re la te s to the computer system wil l be

provided by the Department of Human Resources with guidance fro m the Information Systems Office and the

Attorney's Office.

Waiver: Upon signing this policy, the computer user acknowledges he or she clearly understands the policy a nd has

no further q uestions as to the co ntent and delivery of this co mp uter use policy. The computer user a lso a ffirms that

since he or she has no confusion over the co ntent of thi s p olic y, there will be no viola tion of this policy or any other

civil or cr iminal laws relating to computer use. The computer user will indemnify the SBLC and hold harmless for

violati ng SBLC computer polic y, which causes; 1) h umiliation inter nally and wit h the public; 2 ) disruptio n of

services; a nd 3) civil or c riminal lia bility. T he computer user waives a ny right to litigate an inad e quate traini ng claim

or other negligence claim against SBLC for not clearly u nderstanding this computer use polic y.

Name (Printed)

Date

Work Site __________________________________ J ob Tit le _____ _________ ________________ _________ ___

Signature______________________________________________________________________________________

Form Date: 09/13/2007

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District Office Use Only

Account Name : _____________________________ Date: ___________________

Signature: ___________________________________________________________

Skyward Student Acccount