Village of Mamaroneck, NY Chapter 36A Internet Usage Policy

[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Trustees of the Village of Mamaroneck 9-8-2003. Amendments noted where applicable.]

§ 36A-1 Restrictions and regulations.

A. The Village reserves the right to inspect any and all files stored in private areas of the Village's network in order to assure compliance with this policy.

B. Sexually explicit material may not be displayed, archived, stored, distributed, edited or recorded using the Village's network or computing resources.

C. Use of any Village of Mamaroneck resources for illegal activity is grounds for immediate dismissal, and the Village will cooperate with any legitimate law enforcement activity.

D. Any software or files downloaded via the Internet into the Village of Mamaroneck network become the property of the Village of Mamaroneck.

E. No employee may use Village of Mamaroneck facilities knowingly to download or distribute pirated software or data.

F. No employee may use the Village of Mamaroneck Internet facilities to deliberately propagate any virus, worm, Trojan horse or trap-door program code.

G. In the interest of keeping the Village of Mamaroneck well-informed, use of news briefing services is acceptable.

H. Employees with Internet access may not use Village of Mamaroneck Internet facilities to download entertainment software or games, or to play games against opponents over the Internet.

I. Employees with Internet access may not upload any software licensed to the Village of Mamaroneck or data owned or licensed by the Village of Mamaroneck without explicit authorization from the manager responsible for the software or data. The entire Internet Acceptable Usage Policy is attached to this document.[1]

[1] Editor's Note: See §§ 36A-2 through 36A-4.

§ 36A-2 Policy statement and intent.

A. The Village of Mamaroneck provides access to the vast information resources of the Internet to help employees do their jobs and be well informed. The facilities that provide access represent a considerable commitment of resources for telecommunications, networking, software, storage, etc. This Internet Acceptable Usage Policy is designed to help employees understand the expectations for the use of those resources in the particular conditions of the Internet and to help them use those resources wisely.

B. While the Village has set forth explicit requirements for Internet usage below, it would like to start by describing its Internet usage philosophy. First and foremost, the Internet for this Village of Mamaroneck is a tool, provided to the employee at significant cost. That means the Village expects employees to use their Internet access primarily for government-related purposes, i.e., to communicate with taxpayers and suppliers, to research relevant topics and obtain useful information (except as outlined below). The Village insists that employees conduct themselves honestly and appropriately on the Internet and respect the copyrights, software licensing rules, property rights, privacy and prerogatives of others, just as they would in any other business dealings. To be absolutely clear on this point, all existing Village of Mamaroneck policies apply to conduct on the Internet, especially (but not exclusively) those that deal with intellectual property protection, privacy, misuse of Village of Mamaroneck resources, sexual harassment, information and data security, and confidentiality.

C. Unnecessary or unauthorized Internet usage causes network and server congestion. It slows other users, takes away from work time, consumes supplies and ties up printers and other shared resources. Unlawful Internet usage may also garner negative publicity for the agency and expose the municipality to significant legal liabilities.

D. Access to electronic communications gives each individual Internet user an immense and unprecedented reach to propagate Village of Mamaroneck messages and serve the public. Because of that power, one must take special care to maintain the clarity, consistency and integrity of the Village of Mamaroneck image and posture. Anything any one employee writes in the course of acting for the Village of Mamaroneck on the Internet could be taken as representing the Village of Mamaroneck posture. That is why the Village expects employees to forego a measure of individual freedom when participating in electronic communications as outlined below.

E. While direct connection to the Internet offers a cornucopia of potential benefits, it can also open the door to some significant risks to data and systems if the Village and its employees do not follow appropriate security discipline. As presented in greater detail below, that may mean preventing machines with sensitive data or applications from connecting to the Internet entirely, or it may mean that certain users must be prevented from using certain Internet features. The overriding principle is that security is to be everyone's first concern. Village of Mamaroneck employees can be held accountable for any breaches of security or confidentiality, including any and all branches.

F. As used in this policy, the following words shall have the meaning indicated:

DISPLAY

Includes monitors, flat-panel active or passive matrix displays, monochrome LCDs, projectors, televisions and virtual-reality tools.

DOCUMENT

Covers just about any type of file that can be read on a computer screen as if it were a printed page, including the so-called HTML files read in an Internet browser, any file meant to be accessed by a word processing or desktop publishing program or its viewer, or the files prepared for the Adobe Acrobat reader and other electronic publishing tools.

GRAPHICS

Includes photographs, pictures, animations, movies or drawings.

§ 36A-3 Internet Usage Policy details.

A. General provisions.

(1) The Village of Mamaroneck has the option of installing software and systems that monitor and record all Internet usage. The security systems are capable of recording (for each and every user) each World Wide Web site visit and each e-mail message into and out of the Village's internal networks, and the Village reserves the right to do so at any time. No employee should have any expectation of privacy as to his or her Internet usage. Managers may review Internet activity and analyze usage patterns and they may choose to publicize this data to assure that Village of Mamaroneck Internet resources are devoted to maintaining the highest levels of productivity.

(2) The Village reserves the right to inspect any and all files stored in private areas of its network in order to assure compliance with policy.

(3) The display of any kind of sexually explicit image or document on any Village of Mamaroneck system is a violation of the Village'spolicy on sexual harassment. In addition, sexually explicit material may not be archived, stored, distributed, edited, or recorded using the Village'snetwork or computing resources.

(4) The Village of Mamaroneck may use independently supplied software and data to identify inappropriate or sexually explicit Internet sites. We may block access from within its networks to all such sites that the Village knows of. If an employee finds himself or herself connected accidentally to a site that contains sexually explicit or offensive material, he or she must disconnect from that site immediately, regardless of whether that site had been previously deemed acceptable by any screening or rating program.

(5) The Village of Mamaroneck Internet facilities and computing resources must not be used to violate the laws and regulations of the United States or any other nation, or the laws and regulations of any state, city, province or other local jurisdiction in any material way. Use of any Village of Mamaroneck resources for illegal activity is grounds for immediate dismissal, and the Village will cooperate with any legitimate law enforcement activity.

(6) Any software or files downloaded via the Internet into the Village of Mamaroneck network become the property of the Village of Mamaroneck. Any such files or software may be used only in ways that are consistent with its licenses or copyrights.

(7) No employee may use Village of Mamaroneck facilities to download or distribute pirated software or data.

(8) No employee may use the Village of Mamaroneck Internet facilities to propagate any virus, worm, Trojan horse or trap-door program code.

(9) Each employee using the Internet facilities of the Village of Mamaroneck shall identify himself or herself honestly, accurately and completely when setting up accounts on outside computer systems.

(10) Only those employees or officials who are authorized to speak to the media, to analysts or at public gatherings on behalf of the Village of Mamaroneck may speak/write in the name of the Village of Mamaroneck in any electronic communications. Where an individual participant is identified as an employee or agent of the Village of Mamaroneck, the employee must refrain from any political advocacy and must refrain from the unauthorized endorsement or appearance of endorsement by the Village of Mamaroneck of any commercial product or service not sold or serviced by this Village of Mamaroneck, its subsidiaries or its affiliates.

(11) The Village of Mamaroneck retains the copyright to any material posted on the Internet by any employee in the course of his or her duties.

(12) Employees are reminded that it is inappropriate to reveal confidential information, and any other material covered by existing Village of Mamaroneck secrecy policies and procedures, on the Internet. Employees releasing such confidential information, whether or not the release is inadvertent, will be subject to the penalties provided in existing Village of Mamaroneck policies and procedures.

(13) Use of Village of Mamaroneck Internet access facilities to commit infractions such as misuse of Village of Mamaroneck assets or resources, sexual harassment, unauthorized public speaking and misappropriation of intellectual property are also prohibited by general Village of Mamaroneck policy and will be sanctioned under the relevant provisions of the personnel handbook.

(14) Because a wide variety of materials may be considered offensive by colleagues, constituents or suppliers, it is a violation of Village of Mamaroneck policy to store, view, print, or redistribute any document or graphic file that is not directly related to the user's job or the Village of Mamaroneck activities.

(15) In the interest of keeping employees well-informed, use of news briefing services like Pointcast is acceptable, within limits that may be set by each department' s activities.

(16) Employees may use their Internet facilities for nonbusiness research, or browsing during mealtime or other breaks, or outside of work hours, provided that all other usage policies are adhered to and with the consent of their department head manager.

(17) Employees with Internet access must take particular care to understand the copyright, trademark, libel, slander, and public speech control laws of all countries in which this governmental agency maintains a business presence, so that the Village's use of the Internet does not inadvertently violate any laws which might be enforceable against it.

(18) Employees with Internet access may not use Village of Mamaroneck Internet facilities to download entertainment software or games, or to play games against opponents over the Internet.

(19) Employees with Internet access may not use Village of Mamaroneck Internet facilities to download images or videos unless there is an express business-related use for the material.

(20) Employees with Internet access may not upload any software licensed to the Village of Mamaroneck or data owned or licensed by the Village of Mamaroneck without the express authorization of the manager responsible for the software or data.

B. Technical requirements.

(1) User IDs and passwords help maintain individual accountability for Internet resource usage. Any employee who obtains a password or ID for an Internet resource from the Village of Mamaroneck must keep that password confidential. Village of Mamaroneck policy prohibits the sharing of user IDs or passwords obtained for access to Internet sites.

(2) Employees should schedule communications-intensive operations, such as large file transfers, video downloads, mass e-mailings and the like, for off-peak times.

(3) Any file that is downloaded must be scanned for viruses before it is run or accessed.

C. Security measures.

(1) The Village of Mamaroneck has installed an Internet firewall to assure the safety and security of the agency's networks. Any employee who attempts to disable, defeat, or circumvent any security facility will be subject to immediate dismissal. Employees should be familiar with and adhere to procedures for the use of e-mail facilities.

(2) Files containing sensitive Village of Mamaroneck data, as defined by existing data security policy, that are transferred in any way across the Internet must be encrypted.

(3) Only those Internet services and functions with documented business purposes for this agency will be enabled at the Internet firewall.

§ 36A-4 Acknowledgment form to be signed by employee; user's responsibility.

I acknowledge that I have received a written copy of the Internet Acceptable Usage Policy for the Village of Mamaroneck. I understand the terms of this policy and agree to abide by them. I realize that the Village of Mamaroneck security software may record and store for management use the electronic e-mail messages I send and receive, the Internet address of any site that I visit and any network activity in which I transmit or receive any type of file. I understand that any violation of this policy could lead to my dismissal from employment or even criminal prosecution.

If you have any question regarding this policy or any situation not specifically addressed in this policy, see your supervisor or the Village of Mamaroneck Human Resource Coordinator. This policy is subject to revision. Village of Mamaroneck will adequately post revisions, but it is the user's responsibility to ensure that his/her use of the Village of Mamaroneck computing and communication resources conforms to current policy.

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