Acceptable Use Policy
Introduction
The provision and use of E-Mail and the Internet in the College opens up opportunities for marketing, communication and research but it may also create unforeseen consequences and problems. E-Mail can boost efficiency through improved communication, and internet use may stimulate creativity; facilitate research and the gathering of information, however both can also offer opportunities for misuse.
It is important that College Governors, staff & students are aware of the guidelines that they are expected to follow in using E-Mail and the Internet. The College’s policy is set out below to ensure that users understand how the system should be used. In this policy users are made aware of the possible dangers of using the system and the fact that disciplinary action may result from its misuse.
The policy attempts to achieve a balance between allowing user’s access to E-Mail and Internet services to assist in their work and studies whilst addressing, as far as possible, the risks of such access.
It is therefore essential that users read and agree to be bound by these guidelines and make themselves aware of the potential legal liabilities involved in using E-Mail and the Internet.
General Points
Use of E-Mail and the Internet is primarily for work or study related purposes.
The College is the owner of the E-Mail and Internet communication resources. These are designed to assist in the performance of your work, and your studies. You should, therefore, have no expectation of privacy in any E-Mail sent or received, whether it is of a business/course related or a personal nature and in view of the range of legal liabilities that can arise from users having access to E-Mail and the Internet, the College may monitor and intercept communications as considered necessary within legislative requirements.
The College accepts that there are occasions when Governors, staff and students will receive unsolicited material of an obscene or offensive nature. However you should note that under this procedure improper use of E-Mail and the Internet by users to knowingly access, download or transmit any material which might reasonably be considered to be obscene, abusive, sexist, racist or defamatory could, in certain circumstances, be treated by the College as gross misconduct., or result in students being excluded from their course, or from the College. You should be aware that such material may also be contained in jokes sent by E-Mail. The College reserves the right to use the content of any E-Mail in any disciplinary process.
Use of E-Mail
E-Mails should be drafted with care. Due to the informal nature of E-Mail, it is easy to forget that it is a permanent form of written communication and that material can be recovered even when it is deleted from your computer. As such users must take reasonable care in ensuring that E-Mails are constructed so as not to cause annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety.
Users should not make defamatory remarks in E-Mails about Governors, staff, students, competitors or any other person since written derogatory remarks can constitute libel.
Users should regularly read and delete unnecessary E-Mails to prevent over-burdening the system. Regular deleting of items in Inbox and Deleted Items will enable the system to work effectively.
Whilst E-mail is primarily for college related use, reasonable private use of E-Mail is permitted. The “AllStaff” & “AllStudents” E-mail addresses must not be used for personal reasons (e.g. personal events, sale of goods, personal or political views), and the contents of personal E-Mails must comply with the restrictions set out in these guidelines.
By sending any electronic communications via the College’s IT systems, you are explicitly consenting to the processing of any personal data contained within. If you do not wish the College to process such data you should communicate it by other means.
The ‘All Staff’ E-mail address is for internal use only and must not, be given to third parties.
Be security conscious. The Data Protection Act requires that adequate security is maintained to protect personal information held on e-mails, related archives and software (see appendix 1). Do not allow anyone to use your network log-on and password, and do not leave your network account logged on when you have walked away from the computer without ensuring you have locked the computer to prevent others accessing your account.
When working and transmitting documents that contain personal or sensitive information outside of the College, those documents should always be encrypted. The passwords for subsequently decrypting the documents should not be sent by the same transmission media, .i.e. if you are emailing an encrypted document, do not include the password to decrypt that document via email. If you require assistance with encryption, please contact the College’s IT Support team.
(NB. You must always keep an unencrypted copy of the document in a secure location on the College Computer network.)
Under no circumstances should bank or credit / debit card information be included on emails.
When an employee, volunteer, or governor leaves the College’s employ an E-Mail will be generated from H.R. to I.T. who will then disable (not delete) the individuals account with immediate effect (unless instructed differently by a member of the Executive, or Head of HR).
When a student leaves the College at the end of their course their account will be disabled two calendar weeks after the official course end date. Where a student has their enrolment terminated prior to the course end date, the I.T. Department will disable the account with immediate effect (This will initially be confirmed in an E-Mail to IT Services from the relevant CRQ Director or Leader).
All E-Mails sent to an individual using the howcollege.ac.uk address after a user account has been disabled will be returned to the sender. After a period of three (3) years all remaining E-Mails relating to the former user will be deleted. If access is required to an individual’s mailbox or home directory by any other user a Mailbox / Home Directory Access Request must be submitted via the College Portal.
The College may provide secure E-Mail and Internet access for recognised Trade Unions. These will be provided on the understanding that the facilities are used in connection with normal trade union activities. If there are grounds to believe that the site or address are being abused then the matter will be referred to the Union full time official in order to agree access for the purposes of investigation.
Use of the Internet
Computer and internet access is provided to all users on the understanding that it will be exercised in a responsible manner, for educational purposes and College business use.
In addition Section 26 of the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015 (the Act) places a duty on Schools, Colleges, Universities and Local Authorities in the exercise of their functions, to have "due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism”, with section 8 of the policy stating:
In order to safeguard students utilising the IT facilities at the College and prevent individuals accessing extremist materials via the College’s network, we will ensure:
The organisation will retain the ability to log and retain records of all electronic communications (web browsing, e-mail traffic etc.) by users on the College network.
Appropriate staff will be available to monitor any aspects of its telephony network, including mobile phones and any computing facilities made available to staff, students and visitors.
All unusual and/or suspicious events including breaches of security are to be reported immediately via the Safeguarding Team for further investigation.’
In support of this the College uses monitoring software which will take a screenshot of what is currently being displayed on the computer screen if:
It detects a target keyword or phrase has been typed.
Analysis of images or video displayed on a screen identifies something that could be viewed as pornographic.
These screenshots are then used to identify any potential Safe Guarding and/or Prevent concerns. A scheduled report containing Usernames, Date\Time and Location will be generated identifying any concerns.
The monitoring is multi-lingual (including script or character based languages) and enacted against all activity on the computer, not just web based work, and that all captured screenshots are retained for the duration the user account is active at the College. This retained information is used to contextualise and spot trends. Monitoring will continue even when the equipment is not attached to the Internet, whether via the College’s or another network.
Some group study areas may incorporate the use of additional remote monitoring tools to ensure these standards are met, where implemented signage will indicate this in a clear and understandable manner.
All sites accessed by users must comply with the restrictions set out in these guidelines and the social media policy. The creation or transmission (other than for properly supervised and lawful research) of any offensive, obscene or indecent images, data or other material may lead to disciplinary action and may in certain circumstances be treated by the College as gross misconduct, or result in a student’s exclusion from their course and/or the College.
Copyright applies to all text, pictures, video and sound, including those sent by E-Mail or on the Internet. Files containing such copyright protected material may not be downloaded, forwarded or transmitted to third parties without the permission of the author of the material or an acknowledgement of the original source of the material, as appropriate.
Copyrighted material must never be downloaded/uploaded without the clear consent of the copyright holder. It is the responsibility of the person downloading/uploading the material to ensure no copyright is infringed.
Users must not use the internet in a way that denies access to others, for example by deliberate or reckless overloading of College systems.
Users should not import non-text files or unknown messages on to the College’s system without having them scanned for viruses.
General Computer Usage
You are responsible for safeguarding your password(s) for College systems. For reasons of security, your individual password should not be printed, stored on-line or given to others. User password rights given to users should not give rise to an expectation of privacy.
Your ability to connect to other computer systems through the network does not imply a right to connect to those systems or to make use of those systems unless authorised to do so. You should not alter or copy a file belonging to another user without first obtaining permission from the creator of the file.
I.T. Services
The I.T. Services Department is there to assist you. If you require any information or help about the use or set up of your College computer you should contact I.T. Services via phone or E-mail.
Misuse of E-Mail or the Internet
The E-Mail and internet facilities provided by the College are provided on the understanding that users will use them in a responsible manner. However, misuse such as excessive private use of the E-Mail system during working hours or excessive private access to the Internet during working hours or knowingly downloading improper or obscene materials may lead to disciplinary action and may in certain circumstances be treated by the College as gross misconduct, or result in a student’s exclusion from their course and/or the College.
If the College considers that a user is abusing the Colleges policy it reserves the right to withdraw any of the facilities provided from any member of staff or student.
Use of the College’s E-Mail systems, internet facilities including VPN connections will signify that a user has read and understood the above guidelines and has agreed to comply with these guidelines at all times.
PREVENT Agenda
In order to safeguard students utilising the IT facilities at the College and prevent individuals from accessing extremist materials via the College’s network, we will ensure:
The organisation will retain the ability to log and retain records of all electronic communications (web browsing, e-mail traffic etc) by users on the College network.
Appropriate staff will be available to monitor any aspects of its telephony network, including mobile phones and any computing facilities made available to staff, students and visitors.
Only College approved software will be supported by the College and allowed to be used on the College network.
Any unauthorised software that breaches College policies and/or presents a risk to staff/student safety will be removed and appropriate action taken where necessary.
All unusual and/or suspicious events including breaches of security are to be reported immediately via the safeguarding team for further investigation.
