=============== ftp://ftp.eff.org/pub/CAF/faq/email.policies =============== q: Do any universities treat email and computer files as private? a: Yes, many universities treat email and computer files as private. Here are excerpts from their policies or policy drafts. # University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Network and system administrators are expected to treat the contents of electronic files as private and confidential. Any inspection of electronic files, and any action based upon such inspection, will be governed by all applicable U. S. and Illinois laws and by University policies. # McGill University (Canada) - Electrical Engineering Department Within the Department of Electrical Engineering, personal files, including files stored on computer, electronic mail, and other electronic communications are to be considered private. # Ohio State University - Computer and Information Science Department It is recognized that computer files are a new form of property separable from the media with which they are recorded, and that close analogies can be found between the uses of computer files and of various other forms of physical property. The Department shall use these analogies in making decisions about the appropriate use of computer files and the protection of their privacy, extending as nearly as possible exactly the same protection to computer files as is traditionally extended to the analogous physical property. The spirit of this policy is that the file space provided by the University to individuals has exactly the same status as analogous, more tangible facilities also provided by the University. Such facilities as private library carrels, dormitory rooms, and gym lockers are technically owned by OSU, and may be entered only for ''administrative'' purposes such as building maintenance. Similarly, the computers and computer files of students, staff, and faculty members, being electronic extensions of their personal work areas, may not be inspected, copied, changed, or otherwise tampered with without the permission of the owner, except for purposes relevant to the administration of the computer system. Notice that copying (i.e., stealing or ''pirating'') computer software is also prohibited under this policy. # Dalhousie University Nothing in this Guide diminishes the responsibility of system administrators of computing services to take remedial action in the case of possible abuse of computing privileges. To this end, the system administrators with the approval of the President and with due regard for the right of privacy of users and the confidentiality of their data, have the right, to suspend or modify computer access privileges, examine files, passwords, accounting information, printouts, tapes, and any other material which may aid in an investigation of possible abuse. Whenever possible, the cooperation and agreement of the user will be sought in advance. Users are expected to cooperate in such investigations when requested. Failure to do so may be grounds for cancellation of computer access privileges. # Draft - James Madison University c. Students, faculty and staff who use the computer have the right to privacy and security of their computer programs and data. Computer users should not tamper with files or information that belong to other users or to the operating system. # Draft - Michigan State University College of Engineering 3.2 Staff should at all times respect the privacy of user files, mail, and printer listings (but see Staff Rights below). # University of California at Berkeley - Open Computing Facility, a Student-Run System 7.6. Privacy Individuals' rights of privacy shall not be violated without reasonable cause. # University of Michigan The University characterizes as unethical and unacceptable, and just cause for taking disciplinary action up to and including non-reappointment, discharge, dismissal, and/or legal action, any activity through which an individual: [...] (e) without authorization invades the privacy of individuals or entities that are creators, authors, users, or subjects of the information resources, This policy is applicable to any member of the University community, whether at the University or elsewhere, and refers to all information resources whether individually controlled, or shared, stand alone or networked. # New Mexico State University All computer users have two basic rights -- privacy and a fair share of resources. # University of Pittsburgh Every member of the University of Pittsburgh has two basic rights regarding computing -- privacy and a fair share of resources. # Washington University Center For Engineering Computing PRIVACY All user accounts are considered the private domain of the user who owns them. All users should expect that, regardless of the protections set on their files, they will not be read by others. System Management personnel will only view users' files under exceptional circumstances. # Draft - University of New Mexico UNM recognizes that files and mail messages are confidential. Appropriate UNM employees may access computer users' files during normal maintenance and will report unlawful activities to the proper authorities. # Purdue University Computer Center (Staff regulations) * Don't inspect private user files and mailboxes unless the administration of a Computing Center system requires it. # Kansas State University The third category is access to another user's account and/or files or electronic mail for the purpose of invading an individual's privacy. This is considered breach of privacy and is prosecutable under Kansas law. ANNOTATED REFERENCES (All these documents are available on-line. Access information follows.) ================= faq/email.privacy ================= * Email -- Privacy q: Can (should) my university monitor my email? a: Ethically (and perhaps legally) email communications should have ... ================= policies/uiuc.edu ================= * Edu -- U. of Illinois at U-C -- Privacy This is the University of Illinois's Interim E-Mail and Computer File Privacy Policy. It says that "network and system administrators are expected to treat the contents of electronic files as private and confidential." and "Any inspection of electronic files, and any action based upon such inspection, will be governed by all applicable U. S. and Illinois laws and by University policies." ================= policies/ee.mcgill.ca ================= The Electrical Engineering department at McGill University in Canada policy that treats personal computer files and email as private ================= policies/cis.ohio-state.edu ================= * Edu -- Ohio State U. -- Computer & Information Sci The computer policy for OSU's Computer and Information Science Department. (Critiqued) ================= policies/dal.ca ================= * Canada -- Dalhousie U Guide to responsible computing at Dalhousie University (in Halifax, NS, Canada) ================= widener/jmadisonu.gz ================= [No annotation available.] ================= widener/michstu.gz ================= [No annotation available.] ================= statements/ocf.constitution ================= * U. of Cal. at Berkeley -- Open Computing Facil. -- Constitution OCF is an organization that democratically manages computer resources for thousands of users. ================= policies/umich.edu ================= * Edu -- U. of Michigan POLICY: PROPER USE OF INFORMATION RESOURCES, INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, AND NETWORKS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN ================= widener/newmexstu.gz ================= [No annotation available.] ================= widener/uofpitt.gz ================= [No annotation available.] ================= widener/washu.engr.gz ================= [No annotation available.] ================= widener/uofnewmexico.gz ================= [No annotation available.] ================= policies/staff.cc.purdue.edu ================= * Edu -- Purdue U. -- Computing Center -- Staff Staff policy for Purdue University's Computing Center ================= widener/kansas.state.gz ================= [No annotation available.] ================= ================= If you have gopher, you can browse the CAF archive with the command gopher gopher.eff.org These document(s) are also available by anonymous ftp (the preferred method) and by email. To get the file(s) via ftp, do an anonymous ftp to ftp.eff.org, and then: cd /pub/CAF/faq get email.privacy cd /pub/CAF/policies get uiuc.edu cd /pub/CAF/policies get ee.mcgill.ca cd /pub/CAF/policies get cis.ohio-state.edu cd /pub/CAF/policies get dal.ca cd /pub/CAF/widener get jmadisonu.gz cd /pub/CAF/widener get michstu.gz cd /pub/CAF/statements get ocf.constitution cd /pub/CAF/policies get umich.edu cd /pub/CAF/widener get newmexstu.gz cd /pub/CAF/widener get uofpitt.gz cd /pub/CAF/widener get washu.engr.gz cd /pub/CAF/widener get uofnewmexico.gz cd /pub/CAF/policies get staff.cc.purdue.edu cd /pub/CAF/widener get kansas.state.gz To get the file(s) by email, send email to ftpmail@decwrl.dec.com Include the line(s): connect ftp.eff.org cd /pub/CAF/faq get email.privacy cd /pub/CAF/policies get uiuc.edu cd /pub/CAF/policies get ee.mcgill.ca cd /pub/CAF/policies get cis.ohio-state.edu cd /pub/CAF/policies get dal.ca cd /pub/CAF/widener get jmadisonu.gz cd /pub/CAF/widener get michstu.gz cd /pub/CAF/statements get ocf.constitution cd /pub/CAF/policies get umich.edu cd /pub/CAF/widener get newmexstu.gz cd /pub/CAF/widener get uofpitt.gz cd /pub/CAF/widener get washu.engr.gz cd /pub/CAF/widener get uofnewmexico.gz cd /pub/CAF/policies get staff.cc.purdue.edu cd /pub/CAF/widener get kansas.state.gz