2.1 Electronic mail
Email is an essential tool in a modern workplace. The capacity to use email to communicate not only with fellow staff, but also with anyone on the internet carries with it certain responsibilities. Incorrect or inappropriate use of email can have serious consequences for the government. The intent of the following policy and guidelines is to clarify the responsibilities of Ministerial use of email and to establish professional and ethical conduct of good email usage.
Email will be provided for business purposes. The system will have both an internal and internet email facility. Controls will be put in place to maintain the confidentiality, integrity and availability of the system.
Policy
Email System
The use of an external, non-supported email system can pose a security risk to government information.
A centrally provided email system will be used within the Ministerial network that incorporates appropriate access controls for each user. No other email systems, including those offered by Internet Service Providers (ISPs) or external web-based mail systems are to be used for official purposes.
Inappropriate Use
Email usage must be able to withstand public scrutiny and/or disclosure.
Unauthorised accessing, transmitting or storing of material that might bring the public service into disrepute is not permitted.
Email must not be used to:
- defame, harass, abuse or otherwise offend other Internet and email users, individuals or organisations;
- refer to people in a manner that could reasonably be taken by them as being offensive;
- download, store or distribute offensive material (eg pictures and literature) or contrary to law material or material containing defamatory comments;
- attempt to obscure the origin of any message or download material under an assumed Internet address or otherwise disguise user identity;
- knowingly obtain unauthorised access to information or damage, delete, insert or otherwise alter such information with malicious intent;
- circumvent copyright provisions;
- maintain or support a personal a personal or private business;
- disrupt communication and information by placing an unnecessary burden on an agency or Ministerial resources; or
- perform unsolicited mass marketing on the Internet (spamming).
When writing email, staff should assume that the message can be retrieved from backup at any time in the future, even if deleted by the user. The potential exists for FOI and litigation discovery requests to include disclosure from this source.
Inappropriate use of email can lead to disciplinary action and/or the revocation or suspension of email access.
Personal use of email
Cabinet has endorsed an Email policy and principles statement which requires that email access be provided for officially approved purposes only.
Officially approved purposes includes limited personal use. Limited personal use of email is permitted where it:
- generally takes place during the employee's non-work time;
- incurs minimal additional expense to the Government;
- is infrequent and brief;
- is not used to support a personal private business;
- does not interfere with the operation of the Government;
- does not compromise the security of systems; and
- does not violate any State/agency policy or related
State/Federal legislation and regulation.
The privilege of using Government devices for limited personal use may be revoked or limited at any time.
Examples of limited personal use include:
- sending an email home to advise what time you will arrive;
- responding to an email from a friend; or
- submitting an assignment to an educational institution.
Records
Information that meets the definition of a record must meet whole-of-government and legislative requirements for records management.
Email systems are not records management systems and tape backup systems do not adequately archive data.
A printed copy of email or calendar information may be required for use in the Ministerial records management system. Note that email may form part of a request for access to documents under the Freedom of Information Act 1992.
Only email that is necessary to demonstrate a significant decision making process should be kept.
Refer to records management and FOI guidelines for more information.
Storage space
Email systems can become unstable for all users when large amounts of data are stored. The duration of backups and the time to restore from a failure is directly related to the storage space used.
Storage space is to be limited to an allowance of 100mb per user account unless otherwise approved.
Message size
Large attachments can decrease system performance and potentially cause system outages.
The size of an individual email message traversing networks of different bandwidth, such as the Internet, is currently limited to 10mb.
Viruses
Email is one of the most common entry point for viruses and malicious code.
The Ministerial Network will use anti-virus software and will be configured to protect against viruses. Anti-virus software will automatically scan all messages and attachments at the internet gateway, email server and at all workstations.
An addition to anti-virus software, the email system will proactively block executable content from entering the network, such as ".exe", and other similar file types.
Spam
A corporate email system can be the target of large volumes of unwanted email (Spam). All email is filtered to prevent Spam messages from entering the Ministerial Network, however no filter will capture all Spam. This filter is monitored and maintained centrally. Exceptions or additions to the Spam filter can be requested via the Ministerial Service Desk. All Spam messages are identified and quarantined. Staff can monitor their individual quarantined messages via the intranet.
Use of distribution lists
Unnecessary email broadcasts can reduce the useability of the email system.
Distribution lists are to be used for official purposes only and are not to be used for personal messages.
Monitoring
The Cabinet-endorsed email policy requires that employees' use of email be monitored.
Both internal and Internet email are subject to a monitoring process. All email is backed up, including personal email.
Forwarding email after resignation or secondment
Automatic forwarding of a user's email to an external account can pose a security risk to the confidentiality of that message.
In order to prevent accidental disclosure of sensitive information, staff who have left the office are removed from distribution lists.
Upon a secondment or employment with another Queensland Government agency, email may be forwarded for a period up to three months, if supported by the Minister for the staff member concerned.
Contact the Service Desk (46358) to establish all forwarding of email.
Email must not be forwarded to other external accounts.
Email disclaimer
The whole-of-government security standard recommends the use of an email disclaimer on outbound Internet messages.
An email disclaimer will be automatically inserted into the footer on all outgoing Ministerial internet messages. The text of the current approved disclaimer is below:
This email, together with any attachments, is intended for the named recipient(s) only; and may contain privileged and confidential information. If received in error, you are asked to inform the sender as quickly as possible and delete this email and any copies of this from your computer system network.
If not an intended recipient of this email, you must not copy, distribute or take any action(s) that relies on it; any form of disclosure, modification, distribution and /or publication of this email is also prohibited.
Unless stated otherwise, this email represents only the views of the sender and not the views of the Queensland Government.
Please consider the environment before printing this email.
Sensitive information
Sensitive information can be easily disclosed via email.
Never send or keep email that you would be worried about seeing on the evening news, quoted, printed or forwarded onto others.
Never communicate sensitive or confidential information via electronic means unless the information is encrypted or secured in a way endorsed by the Director, Ministerial Services. Do not forward sensitive email to external email addresses, including home or web mail systems.
Cabinet has mandated the use of email encryption between government agencies. The Ministerial Network participates in this system. However highly confidential material, such as formal Cabinet documents must never be sent via internet email.
Email etiquette
Without face to face communications your comments in e-mail may be viewed as criticism.
Be polite, professional and careful about what you say, especially about others (the informality of email can trick the unwary).
Always include a signature block (name, position, office and Internet address, including mobile number if appropriate) at the bottom of email messages when communicating with people who may not know you personally or when broadcasting to a dynamic group of subscribers. For example:
John Smith
Senior Advisor
Office of X
Telephone: +61 7 322 xxxxx
Fax: +61 7 322 xxxxx
Email: John.Smith@ministerial.qld.gov.au
Email and calendar permissions
It is easy for a user to inadvertently provide access to their email and calendar to unauthorised staff.
It is your responsibility to ensure that you regularly check who has access to your email and calendar. Permissions to these systems can be set by the owner of the mailbox or the service desk. A simple mistake in these systems can inadvertently provide access to your email and calendar to all staff. If in doubt, contact the Service Desk (46358) to double-check all settings.
Last reviewed: 17 July, 2009
Last updated: 22 July, 2009
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