Draft Policy on Approved Uses of Email

Working Draft - For Public Review and Comments

This Draft Policy Guidance is being made available for public review and comments
until 1 August 1998. Comments may by sent by Email to artch.griffin@gsa.gov
or regular mail to:

General Services Administration Attn: Artch Griffin (MK), Room 2239 1800 F Street, NW Washington, DC 20405

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CIO Council - Interoperability Committee Federal Email Postmaster's Council

CIO Council Recommendations for Federal Agencies Policy on "Approved Uses of Email"

Draft for Comments- Version 5

Core Principles

1. Email is provided to enhance the performance of Government. Users shall limit their use to the level authorized by their agency.

2. Access to Email is a privilege and not a right of employment. The agency may deny Email privileges in part or in the entirety.

3. Electronic mail messages on Government computers, networks and facilities are Government property and not personal property. There is no expectation of privacy or confidentiality provided.

4. Electronic mail messages that contain inappropriate content or attachments (for example, remarks or images) may be considered the same as if spoken or written in a memorandum, and may result in consequences under existing processes concerning sexual harassment or discrimination and/or other provisions relating to employee conduct.

5. Some Emails may be subject to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) or they may be considered official records. Official Business messages shall comply with the requirements of the Federal Records Act.

6. Employees are reminded of their obligation to respect intellectual property rights that may apply to materials that they might include in Email - such as copyrighted images or text - and not to distribute copyrighted material electronically without the permission of the owner.

7. It is prohibited to introduce classified information into an unclassified system. The use of "personal" encryption is prohibited.

8. If agencies permit Email use for other-than official use, (or limited personal use) the following provisions are recommended for inclusion in agency Email use policy.

8A. Agency guidelines that permit other-than official use of Email are established to the extent that the spare capacity is available and the network performance of the Email systems is not negatively impacted by the additional traffic load, and the usage does not require support assistance.

8B. These unofficial uses of Email are parallel to the policies on limited personal use of Government office telephones.

8C. Limited personal use means occasional individual messages that are not official use, that are of limited size, and that are otherwise in conformance with agency and Federal policies and procedures.

8D. Abuse of Email privilege includes (but may not be limited to):

• use for unofficial purposes that interferes with the conduct of business or individual performance,
• or that is of high frequency or high volume,
• or Email of large sized or with attachments that are large,
• or messages that negatively impact the network performance.

8E. Messages that are not official-use should include a disclaimer making clear that the message is personal and not reflective of agency or the Government.

8F. Use of the Email system should not reflect negatively on the agency or Federal Government. Users should be aware that concerns might be raised if their .gov Email address is used in some inappropriate venues. For example - providing input to a golfing message board or user group with the .gov address may raise the public's ire about Government workers - even if the posting occurred during lunch or after normal business hours.

8G. Nothing for commercial gain of the Government users may be transported on Government Email. Employees may not utilize the Government Email to transact business activity that is of a for-profit nature.

8H. Information or material of a sexual or pornographic nature may not be transmitted. Specific exceptions can be made for online research, monitoring or law enforcement activities.

Background: The CIO Council Interoperability Committee created the Federal Email Postmaster's Council to address the issues of interoperability of Email in the Federal Government. In January 1998, members raised issues concerning some agencies liberalizing the use of Government Email systems and the real impacts that occur in agency Email systems, gateways, firewalls and communications facilities. It ranked the inappropriate use of Email, and Postmaster's authority to manage inappropriate use as two areas that needed additional attention. The Postmaster's at their April 7, 1998 meeting voted to advance this recommended policy consideration for CIO Council Approval and distribution to agencies.

IT Policy On-Ramp

United States Federal Government Document.

Used by Permission.

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