Privacy Policy - Computer Networks

All School computing resources are provided for work/study purposes and the official School policy is that they are only to be used for these purposes. Thus "officially" School computers are not legally used for private purposes and all email and web browsing is "officially" work related. While this policy is not normally enforced for staff and post graduates in the School unless a major abuse is detected (e.g. browsing pornography or using excess resources or non work/study reasons), to properly manage the School's computer resources it must be assumed that they are always being used for University purposes. Situations may occasionally arise where members of the computer support group may in the course of their duties come to view users' emails or other files including any private information
contained in them. Such instances are likey to be rare and will only occur as a result of fullfilling official duties of providing computer support to the School.

In addition, although the web browsing of individuals is not generally closely monitored, you should also be aware that all web usage is logged and there may occasionally be situations where it is necessary to review a user's browsing history. In particular, since the School must pay for all incoming internet traffic, any instances where there is excessively large internet usage can expect to be examined more closely.

Recent developments in privacy guidelines and legislation require employers to advise employees if their email or web browsing is being monitored. Since this can happen at any time, you should assume that, when using School systems, your email and web browsing are always being monitored.

In summary, although individual privacy will be respected as far as possible, there may be some rare instances where private information is accessed, so you should be aware of this risk before using School resources for private purposes.

If you have any concerns or questions about this document, please contact a member of the Computer Support Group.