Electronic Media Policy

8/8/2019 Electronic Media Policy

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Document in Linn County Policies

OP

DEFINITIONS ………………………………………………………………………………………………………..1

ARTICLE 1 – USE OF ELECTRONIC MEDIA – GENERAL ……………………………………………………1

ARTICLE 2 – INTERNET USAGE………………………………………………………………………………….3

ARTICLE 3 – ELECTRONIC MAIL…………………………………………………………………………………3

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT…………………………………………………………………………………………….3

DEFINITIONS

ELECTRONIC MEDIA: Any electronic device designed to transmit, receive, or store information in theform of data, voice, video or Internet.

Article 1 – Use of Electronic Media – General

1.1 Authorized Use. Employees may use electronic media resources for business purposes thatenhance the mission, goals and objectives of Linn County. Appropriate uses of these resourcesinclude.

• Official intradepartmental communications with supervisors and other employees;

• Communications with members of professional organizations;

• Research of issues related to Linn County;

• Meeting individual professional development goals;

• Completion of reports and data entry;

•

Retrieval of official reports;• Performance of other tasks directly related to the employee’s job description and assignment;

1.2 Unauthorized use. Electronic media may not be used for knowingly transmitting, retrieving orstoring any communications including but not limited to:

• Discrimination or harassment including but not limited to sexual implications, racial slurs, gender-specific comments, or any other comment that offensively addresses someone’s age, sexualorientation, religious or political beliefs, national origin, or disability

Distribution:All Employees

BOARD OF SUPERVISORSCounty of Linn, Iowa

Revision No:

1

Reference:Board of Supervisors Minutes of 12/15/1999

Directive Number:

Approval Date:

05/15/2002

Effective Date:

05/15/2002

Policy Section & Number:

OP - 007

SUBJECT: Electronic Media Policy



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• Derogatory to any individual or group

• Obscene, profane or X-rated

• Defamatory or threatening

• For any purpose which is illegal

• Inconsistent with Linn County’s personnel policies or work rules

• Chain letters

• Messages for personal gain, promotion, advertising or commerce

This would exclude any bona fide law enforcement intelligence according to Iowa Code Chapter 612.

Use of Linn County’s electronic media to gain unauthorized access (hacking) to remote or externalsystems is prohibited.

1.3 Expectation of Privacy. Electronic media and output generated by such, and/or communicated byan employee using e-mail, word processing, utility programs, spreadsheets, voice mail,telephones, Internet/BBS access, etc. are the sole property of Linn County.

The Linn County system administrator may monitor usage patterns of electronic media.Elected officials and/or department heads may, at their discretion, review an employee’s electronic

files, messages and usage to the extent necessary to ensure that electronic media and servicesare being utilized in compliance with the law and county policies.Anyone accessing this system expressly consents to such monitoring and is advised that if suchmonitoring reveals possible evidence of criminal activity, Linn County may provide the evidence ofsuch activity to law enforcement officials.

1.4 County Business Use. Electronic media and services are for use while conducting countybusiness. Limited, occasional or incidental personal use of electronic media is understandableand acceptable subject to the discretion of the department head.Commercial or partisan political use is a violation of Iowa Law.

1.5 County Image. Messages or information sent by an employee to one or more individuals viaelectronic media are statements identifiable and attributable to Linn County. All communicationssent by employees via electronic media must comply with this and other county policies and workrules and may not disclose any confidential or proprietary county information.

1.6 Security of System. Electronic media and services shall not be used in a manner that is likely tocause network congestion or significantly hamper the ability to access and use the system.

Only the user’s Linn County account/mailbox shall be used on Linn County computer systems.Passwords shall not be given to anyone except your department head or his/her designee.Mailbox owners are responsible for all messages sent from their e-mail account.

Forgery of electronic mail messages is prohibited. Unless otherwise provided by this policy or bypermission of the user, attempts to read, delete, copy or modify e-mail of other users is prohibited.

The user should delete all messages from the mail system when they are no longer needed to

maximize storage space.

Employees who are terminated or laid off from employment with Linn County have no right to thecontents of their electronic messages and are not allowed access to the electronic communicationsystem. Management may access an employee’s electronic mail if employees are on vacation orother leave of absence and it is necessary for County business purposes or enforcement of thispolicy. Employees may access their electronic mail while on leave of absence based ondepartment policy.



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Article 2 – INTERNET USAGE

2.1 Confidentiality. Internet messages should be treated as non-confidential. Anything sent throughthe Internet passes through a number of different computer systems, all with different levels ofsecurity. The confidentiality of messages may be compromised at any point along the way, unlessthe messages are encrypted.

2.2 Security. Under no circumstances shall information of a confidential, sensitive or otherwiseproprietary nature be placed on the Internet. Because postings placed on the Internet may displayEmployer’s address, information posted on the Internet must reflect the standards and policies ofLinn County.

2.3 News Groups and Mailing Lists. Subscriptions to news groups and mailing lists are permittedwhen the subscription is for a work-related purpose. Any other subscriptions are prohibited.

2.4 Copyrighted Material. Information posted or viewed on the Internet may constitute publishedmaterial. Therefore, reproduction of information posted or otherwise available over the Internetmay be done only with express permission from the author or copyright holder.

2.5 Unauthorized Access. Unless the prior approval of management has been obtained, users may

not establish Internet or other external network connections that could allow unauthorized personsto gain access to Linn County’s systems and information. These connections include but are notlimited to the establishment of hosts with public modem dial-ins, World Wide Web home pagesand File Transfer Protocols (FTP).

2.6 Viruses. All file downloads from the Internet must be checked for possible viruses. If uncertainwhether your virus-checking software is current, you must check with an MIS representative beforedownloading any file or e-mail attachment.

2.7 Inappropriate Use. Offensive, demeaning or disruptive messages are prohibited. This includes,but is not limited to, messages that are inconsistent with Linn County’s policies concerning “EqualEmployment Opportunity” and “Sexual Harassment and Other Unlawful Harassment.”

Article 3 – ELECTRONIC MAIL

3.1 Mail Security. Messages sent to recipients outside of Linn County, if sent over the Internet and notencrypted, are not secure.

3.2 Mail Monitoring. Linn County reserves the right to monitor its electronic mail system. Applicablelaws govern the disclosure of messages sent over electronic media.

3.3 Access to Accounts. The creation and existence of user passwords does not restrict or eliminateLinn County’s ability or right to access electronic communications.

3.4 Inappropriate Use. Offensive, demeaning or disruptive messages are prohibited. This includes,but is not limited to, messages that are inconsistent with Linn County’s policies concerning “Equal

Employment Opportunity” and “Sexual Harassment and Other Unlawful Harassment.”

Article 4 – ELECTRONIC MEDIA POLICY SUBJECT TO CHANGE

4.1 This policy is subject to change by the Linn County Board of Supervisors. It does not create anyright in an individual’s access to electronic media and services.



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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

• I have read and understand the policy and rules on acceptable use of electronic media stated above.

• I understand that all information stored in, transmitted or received through electronic media is theproperty of Linn County.

By my use of said media, I hereby consent to allow representatives of Linn County to monitor the use ofmy electronic media to ensure that such use is consistent with Linn County’s policies and procedures. Iam aware that any violation of Linn County’s electronic mail or Internet Access Policy may subject me todisciplinary action, up to and including discharge from employment.

Signature Date

Documents

Electronic Media Policy