(A) Lake County has the right, to monitor any and all aspects of its computer system, including but not limited to, monitoring sites visited by the user on the Internet, monitoring chat groups and news groups, reviewing material download or upload by users, and reviewing e-mail sent and received by users.
(B) Users are governed by the following provisions, which apply to all users of Lake County's computer and telecommunications resources and services.
(1) Users must comply with all software licenses and copyrights, and with all state, federal, and international laws governing intellectual property and on line activities.
(2) Fraudulent, harassing, embarrassing, sexually explicit, obscene, intimidating, defamatory, or other unlawful or inappropriate material may not be sent by e-mail or other forms of electronic communication (such as chat groups, bulletin boards, or news groups) or displayed on or stored in the Lake County computers. Users encountering or receiving the material should immediately report the incident to their supervisor.
(3) Without prior written permission, the computer and telecommunications resources and services of Lake County may not be used for the transmission or storage of commercial or personal advertisements, solicitations, promotions, (that is, viruses or self-replicating code) or any other unauthorized use.
(4) Content of all communications should be accurate. Users should use the same care in drafting e-mail and other electronic documents as they would for any other written communication. Anything created on the computer may, and likely will, be reviewed by others.
(5) Unless expressly authorized by the user's supervisor, sending receiving or otherwise disseminating proprietary data, or other confidential information of Lake County is expressly prohibited. Unauthorized dissemination of this information may result in substantial civil liability as well as serious criminal penalties.
(6) Unless expressly authorized by Lake County Data Processing, users are prohibited from:
(a) Installing software on individual computers or the network;
(b) Installing or using encryption software on any of Lake County's computers;
(c) Using passwords (other than network log in) or encryption keys that are unknown to their supervisors;
(d) Downloading software or data to or from any computer on the Lake County network;
(e) Placing any material, whether downloaded from the internet, other computers or networks, or installed from magnetic or optical media, into Lake County’s computer system, which has not been scanned for viruses or other destructive programs by Lake County Data Processing or by IT personnel within the office or department who have been approved by the Lake County Data Board;
(f) Accessing any internet sites not needed by an employee to fulfill his or her job responsibilities;
(g) Accessing internet sites not submitted to Lake County Data Processing in writing by the elected official or department head responsible for the supervision of the user (provided however, that because of the unique nature of their responsibilities, prior disclosure and approval shall not be required of the Lake County Prosecuting Attorney or his or her staff, and compliance with division (6)(f) will be monitored within this office);
(h) Connecting any computer or laptop to the Lake County computer network that has not been checked for the latest virus software;
(i) Operating personal computers, servers or laptops that do not have the latest version of their operating system as well as the latest service packs and patches; and/or
(j) Bringing laptops into Lake County Government facilities which have not been scanned by Lake County Data Processing for viruses or other destructive software before connection to the Lake County Network. The Director of Data Processing may delegate this responsibility to existing qualified employees within a particular department if, in his or her discretion, adequate system protection will be advanced by doing so.
(7) Users should not alter or copy a file belonging to another user without first obtaining permission from the owner of the file. The ability to read, alter or copy a file belonging to another user does not imply permission to read, alter, or copy that file.
(8) Users are responsible for safeguarding their passwords for the computer system. Individual passwords should not be printed, stored on-line, or given to others. Users are responsible for all transactions made using their passwords. No user may access the computer system using another user's password or account. Users may not disguise their identities while using the computer system.
(9) Users waive any right to privacy in anything they create, store, send, or receive on Lake County's computers or the Internet. Users consent to personnel of Lake County accessing and reviewing all material users create, store, send, or receive on Lake County's computers on the Internet.
(10) Notwithstanding the above, this subchapter shall not apply to judges, magistrates, commissioners, and referees of the Lake Circuit Court and Lake Superior Courts and their support staff, including but not limited to, judges' secretaries and law clerks, with respect to private case notes and court records which are works in progress, or classified as confidential by Indiana Supreme Court Rule or court order. Works in progress shall include, but are not limited to, court orders, findings, and memorandums.
(11) Prosecuting Attorney and Public Defender. Notwithstanding division (B)(6)(g) or division (B)(9) above, nothing contained in this section shall be construed to require the disclosure by the attorneys or support staff of the Prosecuting Attorney or the Public Defender, or any information deemed confidential under state or federal law, any rule of the Indiana Supreme Court, or Order of any court of record, or to constitute or require waiver of attorney-client privilege or attorney work product privilege or to require disclosure of information in violation thereof.
(12) Users shall observe and comply with all other policies and guidelines of Lake County in addition to the policies set forth herein.
(13) Lake County is not responsible for the actions of individual users in using the equipment and resources that are subject of this policy.
(14) Lake County is not responsible for material viewed or downloaded by users from the Internet. Users are cautioned that the Internet is a worldwide network of computers that contains millions of pages of information. Many of these pages include offensive, sexually explicit, and inappropriate material. Users accessing the Internet do so at their own risk.
(C) Elected officials or department heads utilizing Lake County computer resources shall inform their staff of the requirements of this subchapter and shall take all steps necessary to assure compliance with the rules and regulations contained herein. It is the responsibility of the elected officials or department heads to assure compliance with the requirements of this subchapter to make sure computer operating systems are kept current, and that virus software is updated daily.
(D) Noncompliance with the requirements of this subchapter may place the computer resources of the county at risk. In the event that Lake County Data Processing determines the risk to exist, individual users or groups of users may be isolated from the system until the problem is resolved. Any dispute regarding the application or enforcement of this subchapter by Lake County Data Processing shall be appealed to the Lake County Data Board.
(Ord. 1204I, passed 6-27-2000; Ord. 1204I-1, passed 9-12-2000; Ord. 1204I-2, passed 2-20-2007; Ord. 1204I-3, passed 5-15-2012) Penalty, see § 32.999