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Subject: Computing
and Information
Effective: Supersedes: Revised: Author:
Approved by: ______________ Purpose The
purpose of this policy is to establish general health department policy on
appropriate use of and standards of conduct for users of health department
computing and information systems, consistent with the health department
mission. Background a.
The principal mission of the Health Department is Public Health.
To properly execute this mission, the health department must support
broad intellectual inquiry and the professional growth of its staff.
The health department can accomplish its mission primarily because
its staff are select individuals, who can be expected to exhibit the highest
standards appropriate to their respective services, professions and
agencies. b.
The health department is a government organization within Washington
State. The health department must therefore adhere to certain
restrictions perhaps not seen at commercial facilities, the most important
of which is that government computer and information systems must be used
for authorized, "Official Use" purposes only. c.
The Internet and the "Information Superhighway" is an
environment where boundaries between appropriate (official) and
inappropriate uses can be blurred. Other
academic and research institutions have recently lost stature due to widely
circulated reports of clearly inappropriate activities being conducted on
their computer systems. This
requires that the health department establish clear and explicit policy on
appropriate and acceptable uses of its computer and information systems. Policy a.
In consideration of its primary mission, the health department
authorizes use of its computing and information system resources for all
job-related purposes reasonably related to public health education and
research, to intellectual and scholarly inquiry and to the general
professional interests and growth of its staff.
Staff are encouraged to make use of these resources for expanding
their professional horizons, and for increasing their knowledge, skills and
ability to contribute to the health department and to the community at
large. Minimal, incidental and
innocuous use of these resources for personal study and communication which
contributes to generally increasing those computer and information resources
skills crucial to education and research may also be authorized. b.
The health department restricts only those uses of its computing and
information system resources that are clearly inappropriate in a
taxpayer-supported institution, or which are clearly inconsistent with the
professional standards expected of its staff.
In any instance involving a question as to whether a specific action
or conduct is or was appropriate, the primary consideration should be
whether such action or conduct would be consistent with that expected of
professionals and public servants, who realize that their actions reflect
not only themselves, but on the health department. c.
The hardware and software that is used by health department employees
is the exclusive property of the department.
This system is monitored to ensure proper operation, to verify the
functioning of applicable security features and for other like purposes.
Use of this system constitutes consent to such monitoring. d.
Upon termination, all account access, including electronic mail, will
be transferred to the employee's supervisor.
Access to an employee's electronic mail account may be requested at
other times by the employee's supervisor.
The Deputy Administrator must approve each request prior to the
granting of access, and the employee will be notified of such access. Specific Restrictions and Limitations a.
While individual computer system administrators normally define the
parameters for use of their respective systems, there are certain activities
so clearly not in keeping with the health department mission or its status
as a public health department, that they are expressly prohibited on all
department systems. These are: (1)
Illegal fraudulent or malicious activities; partisan political
activity; political or religious lobbying or proselytizing; or activities on
behalf or organizations having no affiliation with the department. (2)
Activities for the purposes of personal or commercial financial gain.
This includes chain letters, solicitation of business or services,
sales of personal property, etc. The
exception to this provision is the posting of classified ads to the
"Classified Ads" bulletin board.
The management reserves the right to edit these boards as necessary. (3)
Storing, processing or displaying offensive or obscene material, such
as pornography, "hate literature," etc. (4)
Storing or processing confidential information on any system not
explicitly approved for confidential processing. (5)
Annoying or harassing another individual, e.g., by sending uninvited
e-mail of a personal nature or by using lewd or offensive language. (6)
Using another individual's account or identity without their explicit
permission, e.g., by forging e-mail, etc.
This includes the use of anonymous remailers and similar programs or
services. (7)
Viewing, damaging or deleting other users' files or communications
without appropriate authorization or permission. (8)
Attempting to circumvent or defeat security or auditing systems,
other than as part of legitimate system testing or security research. (9)
Obtaining, installing, storing or using software obtained in
violation of the appropriate vendor's license agreement (i.e., activities
that are commonly called "piracy"). (10)Permitting
any unauthorized individual to access a department system. (11)Modifying
or altering the operating system or system configuration of any department
system without the approval of the supervisor responsible for that system. (12)Installation
and running of packet sniffers, protocol analyzers or similar programs is
prohibited, except by the Network Administrator. b.
There are certain other activities which, while they are not
absolutely prohibited, are almost always inappropriate.
Individuals engaging in such conduct may reasonably expect to be
asked to justify their activities, and if reasonable justification does not
exist, may find their judgement and/or professional standards seriously
questioned. Examples of such
generally inappropriate activities are: (1)
Uses of department systems that, in the judgement of the responsible
system administrator, seriously interfere with other, legitimate uses or
users. Examples include "hogging" systems for
non-job-related purposes (e.g., game playing); excessive large file
transfers; excessive personal e-mail; excessive storage of large (e.g.,
multi-media) files; storage of nonacademic files, etc. (2)
Inconsiderate conduct toward other system users. (3)
Storing files or material that could reasonably be used for illegal
or fraudulent purposes. (4)
Users who participate from department systems in newsgroups, bulletin
boards, discussion lists, etc., should generally limit such participation to
forums related to their own academic or professional expertise, and should
ensure their contributions are restrained, professional, objective and
clearly identified as personal opinions, not official department policy. Responsibilities a.
All health department system users are responsible for adhering to
this policy. Individual users who violate this policy may be subject to
various penalties, ranging from informal counseling, to revocation of
department computing and information system user privileges, to, in extreme
cases, formal disciplinary action, including reprimands or termination. b.
Supervisors are responsible for apprising employees under their
supervision of this policy, as well as the authorization and requisition of
software and compliance with any applicable software policies. c.
The Human Resources department will ensure that this policy is
adequately addressed at employee orientations, etc., and in training given
to new computer users. Consent Use
of any Information Systems resources at the health department constitutes
consent to the terms of this policy. All
employees who use Information Systems resources are expected to comply with
this policy. |
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