Acceptable Use Policy

Technology is an integral component of education. ASFM provides powerful communications tools and almost universal access to a virtually unlimited supply of information. ASFM maintains the network for academic purposes as well as for school-related and personal communication. As with any powerful resource, there is a need for special attention to personal responsibility.

The following Acceptable Use Policy provides guidelines for staff and students. In addition to these guidelines, Mexican and international laws apply to the user’s activity on the network. A user’s access to technological tools may be revoked or suspended for violating any of the policies contained in this document including, but not limited to:

Privacy
Mailing Lists and Subscriptions
Security, Overloading, Hacking
Piracy/Copyright
Inappropriate Content
Inappropriate Behavior
Commercial or Illegal Activity
Damage
Location Change
No Expectation of Privacy
Frivolous Use
Network Storage and Backup
Internet Access

Privacy. Users may not allow others to know their passwords or use their accounts. Users should be careful not to give out personal information over the Internet except to trusted sources using secure connections. Accessing the accounts of others is prohibited. (even if you use an account of another user who forgets to logout)

Mailing Lists and Subscriptions. It is the User’s responsibility to unsubscribe from all mailing lists and other subscriptions upon ceasing to be related to the school.

Security, Overloading, Hacking. Attempting to subvert network security, to impair function of the network, or to bypass a restriction set by Information Technology Department personnel is prohibited. Assisting others in violating these rules by either sharing information or passwords is also prohibited. Bypassing School’s computer network security by accessing the Internet directly by modem or other means is strictly prohibited. (examples: hacking, backdoors, viruses, Trojans, password-cracking utilities, text-trappers, port scanners, sniffers, spamming, denial of service attacks, peer to peer sharing applications) Staff should never allow students to use his/her login account. (See instructions for how to avoid this: User Switching)

Piracy/Copyright/Plagiarism. Users may not illegally copy material protected under copyright law or make that material available to others for copying. As with any use of other’s work, proper credit must be given to the source. User may not be in possession of pirated software. User is prohibited from distributing confidential information belonging to the School.

Inappropriate Content. Any activity such as hazing, harassment or posting of inappropriate material (such as pornography, graphic images, obscenities, and racial slurs) is prohibited. Users of the network both on and off campus are accountable for material or content posted by their account. This includes teacher websites. The School has the right to specify the format of the first page of a staff member’s school website.

Commercial or Illegal Activity. Use of the ASFM network for illegal activities or unauthorized commercial purposes is prohibited.

Damage. Users are reminded to be conscious of responsible use with regards to any activity which may cause damage to the equipment. This includes but is not limited to spillage and dropping of equipment. You are responsible to ensure that you logout of your account and turn off the power of computers overnight.

Location Change. Staff of ASFM may not change the location of any technology devices or connections without the permission of the Information Technology Department.

No Expectation of Privacy. The American School Foundation of Monterrey, A.C. technology resources are the property of the school. The school will, to the extent possible, respect the privacy of all account holders on the network. However, the school is responsible for enforcing all of its school rules governing the network and investigating possible violations. Network users should, therefore, recognize that the School has the right access any information stored on or transmitted over the network.

Frivolous Use. Computer resources are not unlimited. Network bandwidth and storage capacity have finite limits. As such, the User must not deliberately perform acts that waste computer resources or unfairly monopolize resources to the exclusion of others. These acts include, but are not limited to, sending mass mailings or chain letters, spending excessive amounts of time on the Internet, playing games, engaging in online chat groups, uploading or downloading large files (software downloads, photos, audio, or video), wasting printer supplies, or otherwise creating unnecessary loads on network traffic associated with non-business-related uses of the Internet.

Network Storage and Backup. The School has the right to limit network storage. When possible, the User will be informed when these limits have been exceeded, but when network function is in jeopardy, this may not be possible. The User is obliged to only use the folders provided for network storage (Desktop, Documents, Movies, Music, Pictures, and Sites folders) in the User account. It is the responsibility of the user to maintain a true backup copy of his/her data. Currently the storage limit for staff accounts is set at 3GB, but this is subject to change.

Internet Access. The School utilizes systems that make it possible to identify and block access to Internet sites that are not for educational purposes. Although there are safeguards in place, ASFM cannot assume responsibility for limiting any User’s access to such material. If a User accidentally accesses inappropriate material, he/she should immediately notify a teacher (students) or a member of the IT Department (staff).

Personal Usage. ASFM staff are asked not to engage in personal activities which utilize network bandwidth during the school day (e.g. Messenger, iChat, Skype are forbidden for teachers during class time). Email group addresses (especially staff.elem and staff.mshs) are for school-related business only.