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| Introduction |
Under the provisions of the Information Resources Management
Act, for the State of Texas, information resources are strategic
assets of the City of El Paso, Texas that will be managed as
valuable city resources. Thus this policy is established to
achieve the following:
- To ensure compliance with applicable statutes, regulations,
and mandates regarding the management of information resources.
- To establish prudent and acceptable practices regarding
the use of the Internet.
- To educate individuals who may use the Internet, the intranet,
or both with respect to their responsibilities associated
with such use.
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| Audience |
The City Of El Paso Internet Use Policy applies equally to all
individuals granted access to any City Of El Paso Information
Technology resources with the capacity to access the internet,
the intranet, or both. |
| Ownership |
Electronic files created, sent, received, or stored on computers
owned, leased administered, or otherwise under the custody and
control of The City Of El Paso are the property of The City Of
El Paso. |
| Privacy |
Electronic files created, sent, received, or stored on Information
Technology Department’s owned, leased, administered, or
otherwise under the custody and control of The City Of El Paso
are not private and may be accessed by The City Of El Paso at
any time without knowledge of the user or owner. Electronic file
content may be accessed by appropriate personnel in accordance
with the provisions and safeguards provided in the Texas Administrative
Code 202, Information Resource Standards. |
| Internet and Intranet Usage Policy |
- Software for browsing the Internet is provided to authorized
users for business and research use only.
- All software used to access the Internet will be part of
The City Of El Paso standard software suite. The IT Security
Officer may review and approve other browsers on an as-needed
basis. This software will incorporate all vendor provided
security patches.
- Downloading files from the Internet into the City of El
Paso’s communication network is discouraged. If files
are downloaded from the Internet, they will be scanned for
viruses using the approved IT distributed software suite and
current virus detection software.
- All sites accessed will comply with The City Of El Paso
Acceptable Use Policies.
- All user activity on The City Of El Paso Information Technology
assets is subject to logging and review.
- Content on all The City Of El Paso Web sites will comply
with The City Of El Paso Acceptable Use Policies.
- No offensive or harassing material may be made available
via The City Of El Paso Web sites.
- Non-business related purchases made over the Internet are
prohibited. Business related purchases are subject to The
City Of El Paso procurement rules.
- No personal commercial advertising may be made available
via The City Of El Paso Web sites.
- The City Of El Paso Internet access may not be used for
personal gain or non-City Of El Paso personal solicitations.
- No City Of El Paso data will be made available via The City
Of El Paso Web sites without ensuring that the material is
available to only authorized individuals or groups.
- All sensitive City Of El Paso material transmitted over
external network will be encrypted. If no encryption software
is available, the department or individual transmitting that
data, will contact IT for alternate methods of transmission.
- Electronic files are subject to the same records retention
rules that apply to other documents and will be retained in
accordance with departmental records retention schedules.
The City’s Municipal Clerk’s Office, will assist
departments in reviewing retention schedules or in creating
them.
- The City of El Paso can and may impose restrictions on Internet
usage, allocating specific blocks of time for employees to
access this resource.
- It is not the intent of the IT Department to prevent access
to the Internet by those Departments needing access to Web
sites in order to conduct business (Purchasing, PD, Zoo, etc.).
Therefore, if a department needs access to specific sites
in order to conduct its business, access can and will be granted
upon receipt of a request from the Department Head of the
requesting department.
- Accessing Internet services such as streaming news and weather
reports sites or radio channels for music or talk show information,
do put a strain on the City’s communications resources
and as such are strongly discouraged
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| Disciplinary Actions |
Violation of this policy can and may result in disciplinary
action, which may include termination of employment for City employees,
and civil or criminal prosecution. |
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