City of Rensselaer, NY Information Technology and Internet Use Procedures

The computer network is the property of City of Rensselaer. The following guidelines must be adhered to by City of Rensselaer' employees, contractors, consultants and any other representatives of City of Rensselaer who use the Internet through agency computers or networks.

Access to the Internet is granted for official City of Rensselaer business only. Incidental personal use is permissible so long as it does not consume more than a trivial amount of resources and such use does not interfere with employee productivity or preempt any business activity. Employees are reminded that the use of the agency's computer network for personal use results in costs to the City due to lost employee time and productivity. Therefore, regular personal Internet use on agency computers may result in the revocation of Internet access or disciplinary actions up to and including termination.

All employees have a responsibility to use the City of Rensselaer's computer resources and the Internet in a professional, lawful and ethical manner.

Employees should have no expectation of privacy when using the agency's computer network or the Internet. Information transmitted over the Internet is not secure and it can be readily intercepted, changed and read by others. In addition, the content of information transmitted and usage of the Internet may be monitored by the City of Rensselaer to support operational, maintenance, auditing, security and investigational activities.

Employees are cautioned that information on the Internet may include offensive, sexually explicit, and inappropriate material. Employees using the City of Rensselaer's computers who discover they have connected with a website that contains sexually explicit, racist, violent, or other potentially offensive material must immediately disconnect from that site. The City of Rensselaer may also utilize software that makes it possible to identify and block access to Internet sites containing sexually explicit or other material deemed inappropriate in the workplace. However, the ability to connect with a specific website does not in itself imply that City of Rensselaer employees are permitted to visit that site.

Employees may not disseminate or knowingly receive harassing, sexually explicit, threatening or illegal information by use of the agency's computer network or the Internet, including offensive jokes or cartoons. Employees also may not intentionally develop or use programs that harass other users or infiltrate a computer or computing system and/or damage or alter the software components of a computer or computing system.

The City of Rensselaer's computer network may not be used to disseminate, view or store commercial or personal advertisements, solicitations, promotions, destructive code (e.g., viruses, trojan horse programs, etc.) or any other unauthorized materials.

Employees may only indicate their affiliation with the City of Rensselaer in mailing lists, chat sessions, and other offerings on the Internet when such affiliation is for City of Rensselaer related business and after the employee has received permission from his/her supervisor. Please note, all communications with the media (e.g., newspaper, television, radio) must first be cleared through the City of Rensselaer Mayor's office.

Employees may not illegally copy material protected under copyright law or make that material available to others for copying. Employees are responsible for complying with copyright law and applicable licenses that may apply to software, files, graphics, documents, messages and other material they wish to download or copy.

Downloading material can also make the City's network vulnerable to viruses. Therefore, programs or data files should not be downloaded from the Internet unless there is substantial reason and approval given from the City of Rensselaer's Information Security Officer.

Employees should not make use of streaming video, unless absolutely necessary [e.g., viewing a news clip would be acceptable as opposed to viewing an entertainment site (using the computer as a television) which would be unacceptable].

Employees should have a reason to believe that the source is virus-free. Employees may not agree to a license or download any material onto agency equipment without first obtaining the approval of their supervisor.

Unless expressly authorized to do so, employees are prohibited from sending, transmitting, or otherwise distributing proprietary information, data, trade secrets or other confidential information belonging to the City of Rensselaer. Unauthorized dissemination of such material may result in disciplinary action as well as substantial civil and criminal penalties under state and federal economic espionage laws.

Employees should safeguard accounts and passwords. Any employee changes of a password must comply with the Information Security Officer's guidelines for good passwords. Each employee must exercise reasonable care and due diligence to assure that equipment provided for performance of his/her duties is used appropriately. Accounts and passwords are not to be shared with another person without authorization. Employees should not save fixed passwords on their computer; rather, they should be typed by the employee each time they are needed.

The guidelines established herein are intended to be illustrative of the range of acceptable and unacceptable uses of the City of Rensselaer Internet facilities and are not necessarily exhaustive. Employees should direct questions about specific uses not enumerated in this policy to their supervisor.

If there is evidence that an employee is not adhering to the guidelines set out in this policy, the City of Rensselaer reserves the right to take steps to ensure compliance and may take disciplinary action, including termination and/or legal action. Employees with questions or comments about this policy should contact their supervisor.

E-mail may be used by City of Rensselaer employees as long as the following guidelines are adhered to:

E-mail generally must be used for official City of Rensselaer business only. Incidental personal use is permissible so long as it (a) does not consume more than a trivial amount of resources, (b) does not interfere with employee productivity, and (c) does not preempt any business activity. Users are forbidden from using City of Rensselaer electronic communication systems for charitable endeavors, private business activities, amusement, entertainment or to transmit pyramid schemes, direct marketing pitches or other similar messages. The use of agency e-mail should never create either the appearance or the reality of inappropriate use. Employees are reminded that the use of agency e-mail for personal use results in costs to the City due to lost employee time and productivity. Therefore, personal use of e-mail which violates (a), (b) or (c) above may result in the revocation of e-mail privileges and additional disciplinary actions up to and including termination.

City of Rensselaer employees should exercise judgment when drafting and addressing e-mails, just as they do in drafting and addressing hard-copy correspondence. Employees should not send or forward e-mail messages that include libelous, offensive, racist, harassing, profane, obscene, sexual or other derogatory content. Employees who receive an e-mail of this nature must promptly notify their supervisor.

City of Rensselaer employees should not send unsolicited e-mail messages (also known as "spam") and are strictly prohibited from creating, replying to or forwarding chain mail. When City of Rensselaer employees receive unwanted or unsolicited e-mail, they should delete the message rather than responding to the sender. If the e-mail contains harassing or offensive material, or if the volume of such messages is exceptionally high, the recipient should notify the Information Security Officer, who can then take steps to block the spam messages.

City of Rensselaer employees must not forge or attempt to forge e-mail messages or disguise or attempt to disguise their identity when sending e-mail.

All messages distributed via the City's e-mail system, even personal e-mails, are property of the City of Rensselaer. City of Rensselaer employees must have no expectation of privacy in anything that they create, store, send or receive on the agency's e-mail system. E-mails can be monitored without prior notification if the City of Rensselaer deems this necessary. Electronic communications can be forwarded, intercepted, printed and stored by others. In addition, the content and usage of e-mail may be monitored, without prior notification, by the City of Rensselaer to support operational, maintenance, auditing, security and investigational activities. Therefore, confidential information should not be sent via e-mail.

All information security alerts, warnings or other similar information should be promptly reported to the Information Security Officer.

City of Rensselaer employees should comply with all existing laws, regulations and requirements when using the City's e-mail system, including, but not limited to, the Freedom of Information Law, trade secret protection laws, the Personal Privacy Protection Laws and the New York State Archives and Records Administration (SARA) General Retention and Disposition Schedule for New York State Government Records.