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Email Use Policy

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This document sets forth Utah Together (the "Organization") policies about email usage, including access to, review, or disclosure of email messages sent or received by the Organization. The Organization may change or update these policies at any time. Use of the member in violation of these or other Organization policies can result in disciplinary action, including termination of membership.

The Organization's member is provided to members at the Organization's expense to assist them in carrying out Organization business and performing their responsibilities.

The Organization owns, maintains, and is responsible for the member. In the course of their responsibilities, members may use the member to communicate internally with other members or externally with the public, consultants, vendors, and other business acquaintances. The Organization provides its members with the member to facilitate business communications and to enhance member productivity. There may be occasion to use the email system for personal purposes. Personal use is permitted if it does not interfere with organization performance, consume significant resources, give rise to more than nominal additional costs, or interfere with the activities of other members. Under no circumstances may the email system be used for personal financial gain, to solicit others for activities unrelated to the Organization's business, or in connection with political campaigns or lobbying.

1. Access and Review of Email Communications.

• (a) The Organization treats all messages sent, received, or stored as business messages.
• (b) The Organization may access, review, copy, and delete any messages sent, received, or stored on the member. The Organization may also access deleted messages in certain circumstances..
• (c) The Organization may access, review, copy, or delete all email messages of any kind for any purpose and disclose them to any party (inside or outside of the Organization). The Organization may also review communications and monitor its members' use of the email system to maintain system integrity and ensure that users are using the system appropriately, responsibly, and in accordance with Organization policies and procedures.
• (d) If Organization members use the email system to transmit personal messages, those messages will be treated in the same way as business-related messages. In other words, the Organization may access, review, copy, delete, or disclose personal messages for any purpose. Accordingly, members should not use the email system to send, receive, or store any messages that they wish to keep private. members should treat the email system like a shared file system, and expect that any messages sent, received, or stored in the system (or on hard drives) will be available for review by any authorized representative of the Organization for any purpose.
• (e) WHEN USING THE EMAIL SYSTEM, WHETHER FOR BUSINESS PURPOSES OR PERSONAL USE, MEMBERS AND OTHERS SHOULD HAVE NO EXPECTATION THAT ANY COMMUNICATION OR INFORMATION TRANSMITTED OVER ORGANIZATION SYSTEMS OR STORED ON ORAGANIZATION-OWNED COMPUTERS IS OR WILL REMAIN PRIVATE.

2. Email Etiquette.

Please bear in mind that your email messages may be read by someone other than the person to whom you send them, and may someday be disclosed to outside parties or a court in connection with litigation. Accordingly, please ensure that your messages are courteous, professional, and businesslike. Remember that email messages, once sent, are usually irretrievable. Be sensitive to the fact that, in the absence of an explanation, email messages may be ambiguous and convey the wrong impression. This is of particular concern when a message is forwarded to multiple recipients. Instead of sending messages quickly without adequate review, consider printing the messages and reading them before distribution to ensure the content is appropriate.

3. Storing and Deleting Email Messages.

• (a) The Organization strongly discourages the storage of a large quantity of email messages for a number of reasons. First, because email messages frequently contain confidential information, limiting the number, distribution, and availability of such messages is desirable. Second, retention of messages consumes storage space on the network server and personal computer hard disks, and can slow the performance of both the network and individual personal computers. Finally, if the Organization needs to search the network server, back-up tapes, or individual hard disks for genuinely important documents, the search will be more efficient if there are fewer files to search.
• (b) Accordingly, members should promptly delete any email messages they send or receive that no longer require action or are not necessary to an ongoing project. members should audit their stored email messages periodically to identify messages that are no longer needed and should delete those messages.
• (c) Because email transmissions will not be stored permanently on the email system, members should make and file hard (paper) copies of those incoming and outgoing email messages they want to keep, much as they would ordinarily keep and file copies of correspondence. These messages may also be archived on the member's own computer, where they will be stored off of the network. Note, however, that these messages are not backed up as part of the network.

4. Subscriptions to Mailing Lists and Discussion Groups.

Members may subscribe to an email mailing list or discussion group if the subject and purpose of the list or group is directly related to the member's duties. Anyone who subscribes to such a list or group must advise the Organization's manager of information systems or other appropriate personnel of the name of the list, and provide a copy of the subscription confirmation received from the list or group.

5. Permitted and Prohibited Uses.

• (A) Use Primarily for Business Purposes. The email system may be used to support and promote the Organization's objectives. The use of the Organization's system is a privilege, not a right, and may be revoked. Therefore, members may not (for example):

  • (i) intentionally waste limited resources;
  • (ii) engage in activities that disrupt the orgnization;
  • (iii) engage in actions that damage computers, email systems, or computer networks;
  • (iv) use the email system for commercial purposes, for personal gain or profit, or to engage in illegal activity;
  • (v) use the system to copy or transmit any documents, software, or other information protected by copyright laws; or
  • (vi) use the email system in violation of Organization policies, including email policies described in this policy.

• Use of the email system in violation of these or other Organization policies can result in disciplinary action, including termination of membership.
• (B) Email Use. Email messages, whether created inside the Organization or outside the Organization and transmitted within the Organization, or from the Organization to other sites, can generate claims of defamation, harassment, and discrimination. Therefore, members may not:
  • (i) use the email system to engage in any communications that are in violation of any policy, including the Organization's sexual harassment policies; or
  • (ii) use the member to transmit or display:
    • A. defamatory, sexually explicit, obscene, offensive or harassing messages, images, cartoons, jokes,
    • or pictures;
    • B. messages that disclose personal information without authorization;
    • C. unwelcome propositions, requests for dates, or love letters;
    • D. profanity, obscenity, slander, or libel;
    • E. ethnic, religious, or racial slurs; or
    • F. any other message that could be construed as harassment or disparagement of others based on
    • their sex, race, sexual orientation, age, national origin, disability, or religious or political beliefs.

(C) Reporting Violations of Policy. Any member who becomes aware that the use of the email system has resulted in a violation of these policies or other Organization policies should promptly report such violations to the manager of information systems or other appropriate personnel. Any member's failure to report a violation of these or other Organization policies relating to a breach of system security or confidentiality may result in disciplinary action, up to and including termination of membership.

(D) Email system Security.

• (i) Importance of System Security. The Organization has an obligation to maintain the confidentiality of its own and its members information. As a consequence, all users of the email system must take steps to ensure the security of the system and to maintain the confidentiality of all information on the system or communicated through the use of the system. Each member is responsible for what happens under his or her log-in name. Violations of security policies are considered serious violations of Organization policy, and can result in disciplinary action, including termination of membership.

• (ii) System Access. Password and user log-on IDs are unique to each authorized user and will be assigned by the manager of information systems. Passwords must be kept private. They should not be shared, coded into programs, or written down.
• To protect against the dissemination of confidential information, members should not access their email messages for the first time in the presence of others. Email windows should not be left open on the screen when the computer is unattended. Email passwords (and other computer passwords) should be changed regularly.

(E) Confidentiality of Communications.

• (i) Importance of Confidentiality. members must exercise a greater degree of caution in transmitting information through email than they take with other means of communicating information (e.g., written memoranda, letters, or phone calls) because of both the reduced human effort required to redistribute this information and security considerations on the Internet. Confidential information of the Organization or its members should never be transmitted or forwarded to outside individuals or companies not authorized to receive that information. Always use care in addressing email messages to make sure that messages are not inadvertently sent to outsiders or to the wrong person inside the Organization. In particular, members should exercise care when using distribution lists to make sure that all addressees are appropriate recipients of the information. Lists are not always kept current and individuals using lists should ensure that the lists are kept current. Do not routinely forward messages containing confidential information to multiple parties unless there is a clear business need.

Organizational Policies

1. The Organization has complete authorization to monitor email communications.
2. The Organization may monitor on a routine or special case basis;
3. The Organization may elect not to monitor and may not strictly enforce its policies, but any such election or determination not to enforce any policy strictly will not be construed as a waiver of the Organization's right to enforce its policies in any particular situation.