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Home > General Information > Internet Policy

Internet Policy 

Internet Policy

The following “Use of the Internet” document is a sample policy that we encourage our clients to make use of. It may not fit your business precisely but will give you some good guidelines. Alternatively, one of our business consultants can help you to create your own policy, tailored to your own business needs.

This has been copied from the NZ Department of Internal Affairs Draft Code of Practice

Links

Draft Code of Practice for Internet Usage in Organisations

This draft code of practice is only a recommendation. It covers topics in a general way that organisations should adapt and amend for their own purposes.

It is important that organisations be aware that Internet activity that is not illegal on a home computer can still cause legal issues at work. These can include employees accidentally damaging the organisation’s reputation and harassment complaints about material that is offensive to other staff.

You should also consider advice from human resources and employment law specialists.

See Disclaimer and Copyright information.

Introduction

These Internet policies and guidelines are designed to ensure that staff are aware of the appropriate usage of the Internet and their responsibilities.
This policy should be reviewed regularly to take into account the changing nature of the Internet and the laws surrounding its use.

Scope

Throughout this document, reference to the Internet should be taken to include all on-line services such as the World Wide Web, e-mail, newsgroups, chat groups and File Transfer Protocol (FTP) servers. The policies and guidelines should:

  • apply to all staff
  • be designed to be used in conjunction with existing policies such as disaster recovery and human resources
  • are consistent with the Human Resources guidelines already signed by all employees.

Policy Objective

The objective of these policies and guidelines is to allow open access to the Internet during the course of all business. Responsibility for use and management of use of the Internet lies with the manager and their employee. The guidelines can be used to protect the employer if abuse is suspected and/or proved. The guidelines are also designed to protect the employee as long as they are followed. The guidelines provide:

  • A framework for providing desktop access to the Internet
  • Direction and guidance on appropriate use of the Internet.

Policy Statements

1. Use of the Internet - Use of the Internet by staff is permitted and encouraged when it is being used for business purposes and supports the goals and objectives of the employer.

2. Standards of Conduct - The Internet should only be used as part of the normal execution of an employee’s responsibilities and should be used in a manner that is consistent with the employer's standards of business conduct.

3. Protocols - Information communicated via the Internet should be subject to the same protocols and publication standards as traditional means of communication (e.g. approval by manager, reviewed by Marketing and Communications manager etc).

4. Monitoring Rights - The Management of (organisation) reserves the right to monitor the volume and cost of network traffic generated by each person at all times, and the right to monitor, access, retrieve and read all communication in the following circumstances:

  • Legitimate business need (e.g. routine system administration, access to information when the employee is unavailable but timing is critical)
  • Reasonable suspicion of prohibited activities.
  • Information obtained in these circumstances may be disclosed to direct managers of staff members involved and other authorities if necessitated by the information retrieved.

5. Copyright - The presence of a body of work on the Internet does not necessarily mean that there is an automatic right to copy. Works may only be copied where the author has expressed or implied that authorised copying can occur. Staff should not post any information protected by copyright unless permission has been officially provided. Users must abide by all software licensing agreements, copyright laws and other applicable regulations.

Guidelines

1. Accuracy of Information - Users should be aware that information on the Internet may be inaccurate or untimely and there is a danger that opinions may be presented as facts.

2. Appropriate Activities - staff using the Internet must ensure that the use they make is ‘appropriate’. Examples of appropriate use include:

  • Conducting research & investigation in support of output delivery
  • Communication and information exchange with Government agencies and other organisations as required by business (if relevant)
  • Retrieving news stories or other information of interest to the (organisation)
  • Professional development activity, such as maintaining currency with and/or debating issues in, a field of knowledge. This includes personal development activity, such as university associations and professional societies.

3. Prohibited Activities - staff must not use the Internet for inappropriate purposes. Inappropriate use includes but is not limited to:

Responsibilities

Staff are responsible for:

  • Checking that any files downloaded from the Internet are checked for virus infection, and immediately informing the relevant manager if a virus is detected
  • Adhering to the Internet policy and guidelines, and immediately reporting to the relevant manager any perceived weaknesses or breaches of this policy as soon as they become aware of them
  • Validating and authenticating information retrieved from the Internet before it is used for business purposes
  • Ensuring all information posted to or communicated via the Internet is accurate and has an appropriate level of authorisation
  • Not sharing their password, user identification or other secure information
  • Not using unauthorised codes or passwords to gain access to other’s files.

Breach of These Responsibilities and Guidelines

Any breach of these policies and guidelines will be investigated and dealt with. Any staff member found to be in breach of these policies may be subject to disciplinary action including dismissal.

Schools

Schools must provide a safe physical and emotional learning environment, and the Ministry of Education has endorsed the Internet Safety Group's NetSafe Kit for Schools as best practice for all New Zealand schools.  This kit includes sample policies and procedures, as well as a detailed explanation of effective incident response.  The full kit is available online at http://www.netsafe.org.nz/kits/kits_default.asp or can be ordered by contacting the Internet Safety Group at: queries@netsafe.org.nz.


More Information

Enquiries may be directed to any of the following offices:


Auckland
Censorship Office
Department of Internal Affairs
PO Box 21 105
Henderson
Auckland
Tel: (09) 836 8604
Fax: (09) 836 2977

Wellington
Censorship Office
Department of Internal Affairs
PO Box 805
Wellington
Tel: (04) 495 9383
Tel: (04) 495 9386
Fax: (04) 495 9389

Christchurch
Censorship Office
Department of Internal Affairs
PO Box 1308
Christchurch
Tel: (03) 353 8310
Fax: (03) 353 8310

Objectional Material

Unfortunately computer systems are often used to access some pretty unpleasant material.

As part of our daily work, we can come across some of this on the computers we encounter. Should this happen, its important to know what to do.

Likewise, we would be disappointed in any objectional or offensive material was to come onto our computer systems.

What is Objectionable?

Under the Films, Videos and Publication Classification Act 1993, Objectional material is defined as :

"(1) For the purposes of this Act,... it describes, depicts, expresses or otherwise deals with matters such as sex, horror, crime, cruelty, or violence in such a manner that the availability of the publication is likely to be injurious to the public good.

(2) ... if the publication promotes or supports, or tends to promote or support,

(a) The exploitation of children, or young persons, or both, for sexual purposes; or

(b) The use of violence or coercion to compel any person to participate in, or submit to, sexual conduct; or

(c) Sexual conduct with or upon the body of a dead person; or

(d) The use of urine or excrement in association with degrading or dehumanising conduct or sexual conduct; or

(e) Bestiality; or

(f) Acts of torture or the infliction of extreme violence or extreme cruelty."

 The Act further states that:

" In determining, for the purposes of this Act, whether or not any publication (other than a publication to which subsection (2) of this section applies) is objectionable or should be given a classification other than objectionable, particular weight shall be given to the extent and degree to which, and the manner in which, the publication

(a) Describes, depicts, or otherwise deals with

(i) Acts of torture, the infliction of serious physical harm, or acts of significant cruelty:
(ii) Sexual violence, or sexual coercion, or violence or coercion in association with sexual conduct:

(iii) Other sexual or physical conduct of a degrading or dehumanising or demeaning nature:

(iv) Sexual conduct with or by children, or young persons, or both:

(v) Physical conduct in which sexual satisfaction is derived from inflicting or suffering cruelty or pain:

(b) Exploits the nudity or children, or young persons, or both:

(c) Degrades or dehumanises or demeans any person:

(d) Promotes or encourages criminal acts or acts of terrorism;

(e) Represents (whether directly or by implication) that members of any particular class of the public are inherently inferior to other members of the public by reason of any characteristic of members of that class, being a characteristic that is a prohibited ground of discrimination specified in section 21(1) of the Human Rights Act 1993

If you find objectionable material

If, in the course of your work, you stumble across material that is objectionable,

  • raise the matter with your supervisor
  • contact the Department of Internal Affairs Censorship Office (09 836-8604)
  • do not look any further

These guides are in the event that material is discovered in the normal course of work.  Kinetics are not the censorship officers and have no rights nor responsibilities to search out offensive and objectionable material.