Amended Work Rule July 16, 2009

POLICY CONCERNING THE USE OF STATE-OWNED INFORMATION AND TECHNOLOGY (I.T.) AND RELATED COMMUNICATIONS EQUIPMENT AND RESOURCES:

NOTE: State information and technology and related communication equipment and resources may include, but is not limited to: Computer workstations, laptops, mobile devices, voice mail, computer networks, printers, copiers, telephones, fax machines, modems, fax modems, e-mail, local and wide area networks, Internet, and Intranet.

PURPOSE

The purpose of this policy is to set out the minimum rules to be followed while using any or all of the State-owned information and technology equipment and resources under the control of the Department of Administrative and Financial Services (DAFS).

BACKGROUND

The Department provides its employees access to State-owned I.T. equipment and resources to accomplish tasks, process, and communicate to effectively achieve the DAFS mission, as directed by law and the administration.

The State of Maine "Freedom of Access Law" (1 MRSA, § 401-410) clearly provides that any and all written, printed or graphic matter or any mechanical or electronic data compilation (files, notes, records, copies, etc.), regardless of the media used to store or transmit them (paper, film, microfiche, recordable media, electronic media, etc.) in public offices received or prepared for use in connection with the transaction of public governmental business is public property. As such, the public may have access to those materials for examination. The law places some very narrow restrictions on the public access, such as personnel files, employment applications, employee testing and rating criteria, workers' compensation files, certain investigation files, etc., but most materials are subject to public viewing. Employees are advised that there should be no expectation of privacy when using any State-owned I.T. or related communications equipment or resources.

Use of IT resources, such as e-mail, Internet, social networking media interfaces such as YouTube, Facebook and blogs, etc., are intended to be used for State business purposes.  The Department's employees are provided with a maine.gov email account through which to conduct state business. DAFS employees shall not conduct state business through personal email accounts. (Yahoo, Hotmail, Gmail). DAFS employees should be aware that cell phone, Blackberry and internet messages are generally not secure and can be intercepted by outside parties.[1] Voice mail and e-mail messages may have backup copies that cannot be deleted by the operator. A history of accessed web sites is recorded by most browser software. All of this information may be subject to release under a "Freedom of Access Law" request. DAFS employees and the Office of Information Technology may monitor voice, e-mail, and Internet traffic to improve service levels, enforce this policy, and prevent unauthorized access to State systems.

Unofficial and/or unauthorized use of State-owned equipment places unanticipated and possibly excessive demands on the State's I.T. resources. Accessing unofficial and/or unauthorized sources unnecessarily exposes the State to security risks such as the spread of computer viruses, adware and malware, which may be costly and disruptive to remove.

POLICY

State-owned I.T. equipment and resources are made available to employees to conduct official DAFS business. The use of State-owned I.T. equipment and resources to create, record, store, transmit, distribute, image, modify, print, download, or display inappropriate or unprofessional materials that demean, denigrate, or harass individuals or groups of individuals, on the basis of race, ethnic heritage, religious beliefs, disability, sexual orientation or gender, and/or materials that are sexually explicit or pornographic in nature, whether or not the material was intended to demean, denigrate or harass any employee or group of employees, is prohibited.

The State's technology resources are not to be used to forward or otherwise broadcast mass communications that are not work related, or solicitations for causes unrelated to the State's business, no matter how worthy the cause may be perceived to be. If in doubt as to whether your proposed e-mail meets these guidelines, contact Personnel Services at 624-7400. Solicitations or mass communications for causes believed to be related to State business should be brief, not endorse any particular product or provider, and should refer readers to a webpage for further information. The Commissioner or his/her designee must approve such solicitations or mass mailings. [NOTE: In the Capitol area, Capitol Security must give written permission for solicitations. The Maine State Employees Combined Charitable Appeal is the only solicitation with on-going, or "blanket" approval]. State-owned IT resources may not be used to conduct outside business nor may it be used in conjunction with any outside employment activity.

Additionally, state law makes it a crime to use a computer system operated by a state department or agency to advocate for or against a candidate for federal office, a constitutional office, an elective municipal, county or state office, including leadership positions in the Senate and House of Representatives, as well as to solicit contributions required by law to be reported to the Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practice.

Any personal use of State-owned I.T. equipment and resources must be incidental in nature. Examples of incidental use may include, but are not limited to, brief e-mails, accessing an appropriate subject on the Internet, phone calls of an urgent nature, using computer capabilities for incidental correspondence, etc.[2] The use of State-owned resources represents a cost to the State and, as such, printing and copying for personal use is restricted to incidental use only. Any personal, incidental use of State-owned I.T. equipment and resources shall not interfere with the Department's business activities, must not involve solicitation in any form, must not be associated with any outside business or employment activity, and must not potentially embarrass or offend the State of Maine, its residents, its taxpayers, or its employees.[3]

GUIDELINES AND PROCEDURES

In the event that an employee inadvertently accesses inappropriate or prohibited material, (to include material deemed as a security risk[4]) the employee is required to immediately secure the material from view. It is recommended that if an employee inadvertently accesses inappropriate or prohibited materials, his or her supervisor or management should be advised of the circumstances surrounding the inadvertent access. This will ensure that the employee can be held harmless for inadvertently accessing the inappropriate or prohibited materials.

If supervisory or management staff become aware that inappropriate or prohibited materials are being accessed, downloaded, or otherwise transmitted to or by an employee in his or her organization, he or she must act immediately to stop such activity. Supervisors and managers should contact DAFS Director of Human Resources, for guidance and consultation.

These rules may be amended as necessary by State policies and procedures or by updated DAFS policies.

Each DAFS employee is expected to comply with this policy. Violation of this policy may lead to progressive discipline, up to and including dismissal consistent with applicable bargaining agreement and/or Civil Service Rules. For further information concerning this policy, contact DAFS Director of Human Resources at 624-7400.  For further information technology policies visit the Office of Information Technology website at http://www.maine.gov/oit/oitpolicies/index.htm.