[Administrator]

General Considerations for Use of E-mail:

1. Messaging system not a storage system. The State’s e-mail system is designed for communication by written message. It is not and should not be used as a document storage or management system.
2. Official Business. The State’s e-mail systems are for official business. All messages sent or received on the system are the property of the State of Wyoming.
3. Expectation of Privacy. Employees should not expect e-mail messages in their basic form to be private. E-mail is not immune from unauthorized interception, therefore agencies should consider encryption of sensitive information or consider alternative means of communication. Because materials and communications privileged or confidential by law are not included within the definition of public records set out in the Public Records Act (W.S. 16-4-201 through 16-4-205), each agency must have a plan for separating out confidential material sent by e-mail, or have a policy that confidential materials and communications will not be sent through this medium. Users should never place any data on the system that they would not want to appear on television or in newspapers.
4. E-mail Account. E-mail accounts, and the e-mail messages contained within these accounts, are important to the business functions of an individual State agency. As such, the messages and e-mail accounts are the property of the State of Wyoming and will be managed by individual agencies. In the event of any employee termination or interagency transfer, the employee’s e-mail account shall remain with the originating agency. All messages may be reviewed and redirected to the employee’s successor or otherwise purged of agency-specific content as appropriate.
5. Improper uses. The use of the e-mail system to transmit data which is disparaging or harassing to individuals or groups will not be tolerated. Types of data include: writings, drawings or any other form that is degrading or harassing to others based on, but not limited to, race, age, origin, sex, disability, religion or political beliefs, including “jokes.” E-mail may not be used for personal commercial ventures, religious or political causes, endorsement of candidates, or outside organizations.
6. Security. To ensure system integrity and security, each individual must protect his system password from disclosure to others. Passwords should be changed frequently. It is suggested that passwords be constructed of alphanumeric characters that are not recognizable words or patterns.
7. Copies and dissemination. E-mail can be copied and forwarded to numerous individuals. Copies of an e-mail may be retained by persons unknown to the author long after the intended function has been completed. Both recipients and transmitters need to protect data sent on the system from unauthorized alteration and deletion.
8. Copyright violations. The ability of various e-mail systems to include attachments enables the users to forward additional data to other users. The ease of transmitting attachments places the burden of protecting copyrighted material on the transmitter. Protection of copyrights requires the user to make, to the greatest degree possible, a determination of authorship of any data utilized. All copyright laws apply equally to e-mail systems. Crimes against intellectual property in Wyoming are defined by W.S. 6-3-502.
9. Etiquette. Use of e-mail etiquette should be observed at all times. Employees represent the State of Wyoming and should act in a professional manner at all times.
10. Viruses and E-mail. Simply reading a text based e-mail can spread a virus to your computer. This is a relatively new development. Viruses can also be hidden in attachments to mail messages. There is risk from opening attached files to the e-mail message, especially executable files. In addition, other types of file attachments can pose a risk, such as MS-Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, and similar files used by applications that use macros, because these files can be infected with a macro virus. If you receive any unsolicited e-mail from unknown sources or untrusted documents or executable programs via an e-mail attachment, the file should be saved to the local hard drive and scanned with an anti-virus scanning product (with the latest virus signatures or definitions installed) before the file is opened or run. The MIS person should be contacted for assistance. Be aware that this is not an absolute guarantee that the contents of the file are safe, but it will check for any viruses or malicious code that the scanning software can detect. If there is any doubt (especially if the e-mail was sent from an unknown source), deleting unsolicited messages with all attached files is the safest thing to do. Users are requested not to spread unconfirmed warnings about viruses. If you receive an unvalidated warning, do not pass it to others; pass it to your systems administrator to validate first.