Our IT and communications systems are intended to promote effective communication and working practices. This policy outlines the standards you must observe when using these systems, when we will monitor their use and the action we will take if you breach these standards. Breach of this policy may be dealt with under our Disciplinary Procedure and, in serious cases, may be treated as gross misconduct leading to summary dismissal.
You are responsible for the security of the equipment allocated to or used by you, and you must not allow it to be used by anyone other than in accordance with this policy. You should use passwords on all IT equipment which you should keep confidential. You must only log on to our systems using your own username and password. You must not use another persons’ username and password or allow anyone else to log on using your username and password.
You should not delete, destroy or modify existing systems, programs, information or data (except as authorised in the proper performance of your duties).
Inform your Manager and the ISO Committee immediately if you suspect your computer may have a virus.
Remember that emails can be used in legal proceedings and that even deleted emails may remain on the system and be capable of being retrieved. You must not send abusive, obscene, discriminatory, racist, derogatory, defamatory, pornographic or otherwise inappropriate emails.
Internet access is provided primarily for business purposes although occasional personal use may be permitted. You should not access any web page or download any image or other file from the internet which could be regarded as illegal, offensive, or immoral. As a general rule if any person might be offended by the contents of a page, or if the fact that our software has accessed the page or file might be a source of embarrassment if made public, then viewing it will be a breach of this policy. Misuse of our telephone or email system or inappropriate internet use or downloading of illegal software will be dealt with under our Disciplinary Procedure. Misuse of the internet can in some cases also be a criminal offence.
We permit the incidental use of our systems to send personal email, browse the internet and make personal phone calls subject to certain conditions. Personal use must meet the following conditions:
- It must take place substantially outside of normal working hours (that is, during your lunch break, and before or after work);
- It must not affect your work or interfere with the business;
- It must not commit us to any marginal costs; and
- It must comply with our policies including the Data Protection Policy and Disciplinary Policy. We reserve the right to retrieve the contents of emails or check internet usage (including pages visited and searches made) as reasonably necessary in the interests of the business, including for the following purposes (this list is not exhaustive):
- To monitor whether the use of the email system or the internet is legitimate and in accordance with this policy;
- To find lost messages or to retrieve messages lost due to computer failure;
- To assist in the investigation of alleged wrong doing; or
- To comply with any legal obligation.