(A) Generally. All information received or disseminated through village computers will be considered the property of the village. System users have no right to privacy and should have no expectation in materials sent, received or stored in the village-owned computers. Personal email and internet use should be kept to a minimum. Excessive use of email and internet privileges is considered a theft of the employee’s time. Employees may not utilize village-owned computers for personal gain or illegal or pornographic-related activities. The misuse of village-owned computers could result in disciplinary action, including termination.
(B) Specific examples of inappropriate use. Examples of inappropriate use include, but are not limited to:
(1) Using village computers and network resources for illegal activities (may include obscenity, child pornography, threats, harassment, copyright infringement, defamation and theft);
(2) Using the village’s computer account without authorization (attempting to access or accessing another’s account, private files or email without the owner’s permission);
(3) Obtaining a password for a village computer account without consent;
(4) Intentionally creating, modifying or copying files to or from areas to which the user has not been granted access;
(5) Allowing access to village-owned computer resources by unauthorized users;
(6) Altering system software or hardware configurations without authorization;
(7) Using village computer and network resources to gain unauthorized access to compute facilities off-site;
(8) Knowingly interfering with the normal operation of computers, terminals, peripherals or networks. This includes but is not limited to loading programs known as computer viruses, Trojan horses and worms;
(9) Intentionally using an abnormally large amount of resources, such as processing time or disk space, without prior permission (e.g., sending broadcast emails);
(10) Attempting to circumvent date protection schemes or uncover security loopholes;
(11) Violating terms of applicable software licensing agreements or copyright laws (installing, copying, distributing or using software in violation of copyright and/or software agreements);
(12) Masking the identity of an account or machine (disguising one’s identity in any way, including the sending of falsified messages, removal of data from system files and the masking of process names);
(13) Posting materials on electronic bulletin boards that violate existing laws or village regulations;
(14) Using village computers and networks resources for commercial or profit-making purposes without written authorization from the Village Board; and
(15) Failing to adhere to individual departmental or system policies, procedures and protocols.
(Ord. 648, passed 11-9-2020; Ord. 688, passed 9-11-2023)