IT Acceptable Use Policy

This policy applies to all employees, contractors or other workers who use Company computer systems, either on

Company or client premises or elsewhere.

PRINCIPLES

At Wilson Vale we recognise that access to computers is essential for everyday business activities and to ensure that we have effective communication both internally and externally with our suppliers, customers and other third parties. We also recognise that the internet can provide real business benefits when it is used appropriately.

However, we are concerned to ensure that employees understand that misuse of technology can put both the business and employees at serious criminal, technical or commercial risk and that they understand the importance of adhering to regulations on Internet and e-mail use and the potential consequences of abusing those rules.

Unauthorised and or inappropriate use of the Company’s computer systems (including for the avoidance of doubt e-mail and/ or internet) may expose you personally and / or the Company to court proceedings attracting both criminal and civil liability. You will be held personally responsible for any claims brought against the Company for any legal action to which the Company is or might be exposed as a result of your unauthorised and or inappropriate use of the computer systems.

The word computer is used for the purposes of this policy, in the widest sense and includes laptops, desktops, electronic organisers, voicemail and the services available using these tools, such as email, the internet, world wide web browsers and specific software applications.

The word computer also includes any IT equipment that is owned by a client and made available for use by Wilson Vale employees.

Accessing the Internet and e-mail can cause employees to spend long periods of time searching for or reading information. We all have a responsibility to productively use our time at work to benefit the Company.

APPROPRIATE USE OF ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION

The purpose of e-mail should be primarily to distribute/ update information, confirm arrangements, confirm meetings etc. It may not be used to distribute personal information.

You should be aware that e-mails can constitute a binding contract and have the same legal bearing over other written evidence, so use with discretion and be aware of what you are saying.

An e-mail message should be treated as if it were a hard copy letter and drafted and checked in the same way. In law an e-mail message has the same value as a hard copy letter. E-mail messages form part of the official records of the Company as if in printed form. The same disciplines regarding the filing and retention of documents follows for these messages. All e-mails can be re-captured in hard copy even if you have deleted it from your pc.

E-mail should not be used as a substitute for face to face communication or telephone conversations. You should always consider whether there is a more suitable method of communication available, for example in circumstances where there is a need to preserve confidentiality or in the case of sensitive issues that should be communicated face to face. Similarly, when exercising managerial control, this should be done in person between the parties involved, wherever possible.

All e-mail should be checked after drafting for clarity, accuracy of message and absence of abusive or emotive words. The language used must be consistent with conventional standards, decency and respect for others, and good manners. Also since clarity is preferable to brevity, jargon should be avoided unless the sender is absolutely certain that the recipients will understand it.

You should always double check that you have the right recipients selected for your e-mail.

Commenting on or about another person or body should be avoided, but if it is unavoidable (i.e. a necessary part of the information under consideration), it should only be based on and backed up by facts.

No e-mail message or response to an e-mail message should ever be sent in haste, anger or hostility. Ideally a time for consideration should elapse between drafting and despatch.

On no account should either the internal or external systems be used for vindictive, harassing, discriminatory or abusive comment or criticism of anyone, whether this is the target, another employee or third party. Wilson Vale will not tolerate the sending of any such e-mail.

Any person receiving an item which they feel should have been prohibited should inform the Company immediately and any person proven to have deliberately sent such an item will be deemed guilty of gross misconduct and will be dealt with under the disciplinary procedure accordingly. Some of these offences may also breach criminal law and can be made subject to sanctions including imprisonment.

FURTHER POINTS TO NOTE:

Emails to large distribution lists should be carefully considered and used only when necessary for business purposes. This will also ensure that colleagues are not recipients of irrelevant information which they need to spend time dealing with.
You should never e-mail sensitive information onto the internet as this is not secure
Do not save sensitive documents within e-mails – this is not secure
Never open e-mails or attachment s from unknown senders as they may contain viruses
Only print when you really need to have a hard copy. Always ensure that your print is collected as soon as possible if the information is sensitive
Try to ensure that you limit the size of your emails when sending from a laptop. Large emails (eg with file or photo attachments) will take a long time to send via a dongle connection. If you do need to send a large email wait until you can connect your laptop to a wi-fi connection as this will be much faster.

On no account may an employee in receipt of a personal incoming e-mail distribute such material internally or externally without specific prior permission.

All e-mails should carry the Company disclaimer.

INTERNET

Access to the Internet should normally only be used for the purposes of the Company business and access must not be used for an individuals requirements whether personal or on the behalf of another.

Access should not under any circumstances be made to unsuitable sites in line with legal requirements, Company policies on Equal Opportunities and standards of decency and which may contain offensive material. Accessing inappropriate sites will normally be regarded as gross misconduct and dealt with in accordance with the disciplinary policy.

The following specific activities, amongst others will never be acceptable and engagement in any of these will be regarded as gross misconduct and dealt with in accordance with the disciplinary policy and may result in civil or legal action being taken against you.

Making improper statements that may give rise to either Company or personal liability, including but not limited to participating in chatrooms, blogs and forums, whether on an anonymous basis or otherwise.
Use that conflicts with the commercial interests of the Company
Use which violates, or has the potential to violate, the security and or confidentiality of information belonging to the Company
Bringing the Company into disrepute and or damaging its legitimate business interests, whether intentionally or unintentionally
Both words and pictures produced on the Internet are capable of being libellous if they are untrue, ridicule a person and as a result damage that persons reputation. You must never put any defamatory statement onto the Internet or on the Company’s computer system
It is a criminal offence to publish or distribute obscene material or to display indecent material in public. The Internet qualifies as a public place
Doing anything that may be construed as, for example, defamatory, malicious, vindictive, harassing, discriminatory (on the grounds of gender, race, disability, age, sexual orientation, religion or otherwise), abusive, offensive, obscene, critical, threatening, invasive of privacy, vulgar or otherwise objectionable.
Committing a criminal offence e.g. fraud, sabotage, hacking, illicit copying of software, unauthorised modification of computer material, the unauthorised addition of passwords to files etc.
Making statements that are untrue, whether deliberately or thoughtlessly
Breaching intellectual property (i.e. copyright, patents, trademarks, confidential information and trade secrets etc)
Using the system for illegitimate purposes such as pornography, gambling, publication of obscene or violent materials
Use of anonymous mail systems to distribute or send e-mail
Downloading of any material or pictures including screensavers
The use of social networking sites, instant messenger or personal email accounts.

PERSONAL USE

The use of Company IT equipment for personal use must be kept to an absolute minimum. In particular personal conversations via email or any internet sites during working hours are forbidden and failure to adhere to this will be regarded as gross misconduct and dealt with in accordance with the disciplinary procedure.

The internet must not be used to access social networking sites such as facebook, instant messaging sites or personal email accounts and failure to adhere to this will be regarded as gross misconduct and dealt with in accordance with the disciplinary procedure.

VIRUS PROTECTION AND SOFTWARE

It is vital that all staff take the necessary steps to safeguard the Company’s computer systems from virus.

If you use a pc, virus protection must be installed and working.

It is specifically prohibited to download or install any software, personal software, games or unsolicited diskettes. Software may only be loaded onto any of the Company’s IT equipment by the Company’s IT manager. Failure to adhere to this rule will be regarded as gross misconduct and dealt with in accordance with the disciplinary policy.

HARDWARE SECURITY

Laptops of any description should not be left unattended, especially in vehicles. If you are travelling with your laptop, do not leave it in the car unless absolutely necessary. If this is unavoidable, the laptop should be locked securely out of sight in the boot when starting your journey and not for example left on the seat when stopping at a petrol station. Under no circumstances should the laptop be left in the car overnight. Be especially careful about placing laptops in the hold of a plane as this can harm the laptop (subject to current air security ruling).

Any loss or damage of company computers arising from the employee’s own fault will be payable by the employee. In the first year of the equipment’s life 100% of the replacement charge will be payable, in year 2 it will be 50% of the replacement cost. The replacement cost will decrease by 50% each year from the date of the equipment being purchased.

Desktops need care to ensure that they are not left in areas where they are a security risk. Take all possible care to ensure that hardware is looked after.

COMPANY INFORMATION

On no account may any Company information stored in any electronic data or other system be copied or removed (including by electronic transfer) from Company premises without prior permission.

The Company website is the sole property of the Company and any unauthorised interference with, or copying and variation of the website is not only gross misconduct but can also generate an action for damages.

The data held on the Wilson Vale servers is backed up on a daily basis, however this does not cover data held on laptops. It is your responsibility to backup your data at least once a month when you visit the office. The appropriate software will be installed onto your laptop to enable you to do this. If your laptop is ever stolen/damaged we would be able to recover your data from the last back up that you completed, otherwise the data will be irrecoverable.

MONITORING

All communications including e-mails, faxes generated and or received by employees may be monitored by the Company.

The Company reserves the right, without notice to access, listen to, read or otherwise monitor any communication made or received by you using it’s computer system. This includes the following:

To establish the existence of facts
To ensure compliance with regulatory or self-regulatory practices or procedures
For quality control and or staff training purposes
To prevent or detect crime
To intercept for operational purposes such as protecting against viruses or forwarding non e-mail to their correct destination
To check voicemail /e-mail systems whilst you are on holiday or on sick leave
To investigate or detect unauthorised use of the Company’s computer systems

The company may bypass any password you set.

The Company may also keep copies of any information obtained for the purposes set out above and to make it available, where appropriate, to such authorities as the police. The information, copies of email or other documentation may also be used in disciplinary proceedings.

Any monitoring will be carried out in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998 and the draft code of practice for monitoring at work issued by the Information Commissioner.

DATA PROTECTION

All employees of the Company that have access to a computer in the course of their duties need to be aware of their responsibilities in connection with the Data Protection Act. The following three points give the main requirements, but additional training can be provided if necessary. If you have any doubt about your obligations or have a specific query, please contact your line manager.

Accuracy of date. Data entries against an individual must be accurate, true and kept up to date
Information held about individuals is subject to strict confidentiality standards
Any individual about whom we hold data has the right to see a complete copy of their record. However, it is imperative that we are certain that the request is legitimate and therefore only written requests will be accepted

TERMINATION OF ACCESS

Access to the computer systems will be removed when you cease to be an employee or Director of the Company . At any other time, the Company in its absolute discretion reserves the right to remove your access.

Any computer equipment, software and relevant documentation must be returned intact at that time. E-mails and other documents stored on the equipment or other media must also be returned intact as they form part of the official records of the business.

PENALTY FOR BREACH OF THIS POLICY

Wilson Vale is committed to ensuring that its electronic technology is used effectively and wisely, therefore any breach of this policy will be fully investigated and may be regarded as gross misconduct and dealt with in accordance with the disciplinary policy.