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Electronic Mail and Voice Mail Use and Disclosure

Policy

This document sets forth Loyola University Chicago's policy with regard to access and disclosure of electronic mail or voice mail messages sent or received by university faculty, students, and staff through Loyola's electronic and voice mail systems. It also sets forth policies on the proper use of these systems. While other Loyola policies do address the issues of information privacy and use of university resources (see Related Policies at Loyola in this document), there are aspects of electronic and voice mail which these policies do not address that are addressed in this document.

Permissible Uses of Electronic Mail and Voice Mail

Loyola provides electronic and voice mail to its faculty, students, and staff for educational, research, health care, and internal business purposes. Members of the Loyola community should limit their use to these purposes. Persons outside the Loyola community may be given access to Loyola electronic and voice mail on a case-by-case basis by special authorization from Information Technologies and under certain conditions, including adherence to this and other applicable policies. The use of electronic mail and voice mail at Loyola should comply with other University policies regarding computing facilities and disclosure of information. In particular, this includes Loyola policies on the authorized use of public computing facilities, ethical conduct for computer use, and handling of confidential information.

Confidentiality of Electronic Mail

Loyola cannot guarantee the confidentiality or privacy of electronic or voice mail messages and makes no promises regarding their security. Decisions as to what information to include in such messages should be made with this in mind. The following elements guide the administration of electronic and voice mail at Loyola as it relates to confidentiality:

  1. Administrative Activities: Loyola reserves the right to conduct routine maintenance, track problems, and maintain the integrity of its systems. As is the case with all data kept on Loyola's computer systems, the contents of electronic or voice mail messages may be revealed by such activities.
  2. Monitoring: Loyola does not monitor the contents of electronic or voice mail messages as a routine matter. However such monitoring may be conducted when required to protect the integrity of the systems or to comply with legal obligations.
  3. Directed Access: Loyola does reserve the right to inspect the contents of electronic and voice mail messages in the course of an investigation triggered by indications of impropriety or as necessary to locate substantive information that is not more readily available by some other less intrusive means. Loyola will comply with all legal requirements for access to such information.

Limitation on Disclosure

Any third-party disclosure of the contents of electronic or voice mail obtained according to this policy will be limited unless such disclosure is required to protect the integrity of Loyola's systems or to comply with a legal obligation.

Violations

The use of electronic mail services is a privilege offered to Loyola faculty, staff, and students. Loyola University Chicago reserves the right to revoke this privilege for violations of this policy.

Related Policies at Loyola

The policies listed below are among those at Loyola University that relate to the issue of electronic and voice mail. Refer to them for more information on Loyola policies regarding privacy and security of information at Loyola.

Information Technologies Computer Use Policies

  • "Authorized Uses of Public Academic Computing Facilities"
  • "Rules of Ethical Conduct for Computer Use"
  • "Data Administration"
  • "Ownership and Use of Data"

Personnel Policies

  • Loyola Personnel Policy #22 - "Guidelines for Employee Conduct"
  • Loyola Personnel Policy #24 - "Release of Confidential Information"

Other Policies

  • Student Handbook - section on "Confidentiality of Records and Release of Student Information"
  • Employee Handbook - section on "Personal Business"
  • University Phone Directory - section on "Personal Calls" under "General Information and Dialing Instructions"
  • Policy #12-2701.001 - "US Mail Inbound" from the LUMC "Material Services Policies and Procedures" manual

Relationship of This Policy with Others

This policy supplements the Access and Acceptable Use of University Computing, Networking, Telephony, and Information Resources and the Access and Acceptable Use of Public Access Computing and Networking Facilities and Services which are available and can be found on the Loyola University Chicago campus-wide information servers. The University reserves the right to change the information, requirements and procedures announced in this policy. This policy will continue to be in effect until a further revision is required and promulgated. Consult the campus computing center or the appropriate system administrator for information on other policies, procedures or directives that supplement this policy.

History

  • April 1, 2006: Initial Policy
  • June 23, 2015: Annual Review for PCI Compliance
  • May 3, 2016: Annual Review for PCI Compliance
  • June 21, 2017: Annual Review for PCI Compliance
  • Sep 6, 2018: Annual Review for PCI Compliance
  • Sep 24, 2019: Annual Review for PCI Compliance
  • Version: 1.1

Policy

This document sets forth Loyola University Chicago's policy with regard to access and disclosure of electronic mail or voice mail messages sent or received by university faculty, students, and staff through Loyola's electronic and voice mail systems. It also sets forth policies on the proper use of these systems. While other Loyola policies do address the issues of information privacy and use of university resources (see Related Policies at Loyola in this document), there are aspects of electronic and voice mail which these policies do not address that are addressed in this document.

Permissible Uses of Electronic Mail and Voice Mail

Loyola provides electronic and voice mail to its faculty, students, and staff for educational, research, health care, and internal business purposes. Members of the Loyola community should limit their use to these purposes. Persons outside the Loyola community may be given access to Loyola electronic and voice mail on a case-by-case basis by special authorization from Information Technologies and under certain conditions, including adherence to this and other applicable policies. The use of electronic mail and voice mail at Loyola should comply with other University policies regarding computing facilities and disclosure of information. In particular, this includes Loyola policies on the authorized use of public computing facilities, ethical conduct for computer use, and handling of confidential information.

Confidentiality of Electronic Mail

Loyola cannot guarantee the confidentiality or privacy of electronic or voice mail messages and makes no promises regarding their security. Decisions as to what information to include in such messages should be made with this in mind. The following elements guide the administration of electronic and voice mail at Loyola as it relates to confidentiality:

  1. Administrative Activities: Loyola reserves the right to conduct routine maintenance, track problems, and maintain the integrity of its systems. As is the case with all data kept on Loyola's computer systems, the contents of electronic or voice mail messages may be revealed by such activities.
  2. Monitoring: Loyola does not monitor the contents of electronic or voice mail messages as a routine matter. However such monitoring may be conducted when required to protect the integrity of the systems or to comply with legal obligations.
  3. Directed Access: Loyola does reserve the right to inspect the contents of electronic and voice mail messages in the course of an investigation triggered by indications of impropriety or as necessary to locate substantive information that is not more readily available by some other less intrusive means. Loyola will comply with all legal requirements for access to such information.

Limitation on Disclosure

Any third-party disclosure of the contents of electronic or voice mail obtained according to this policy will be limited unless such disclosure is required to protect the integrity of Loyola's systems or to comply with a legal obligation.

Violations

The use of electronic mail services is a privilege offered to Loyola faculty, staff, and students. Loyola University Chicago reserves the right to revoke this privilege for violations of this policy.

Related Policies at Loyola

The policies listed below are among those at Loyola University that relate to the issue of electronic and voice mail. Refer to them for more information on Loyola policies regarding privacy and security of information at Loyola.

Information Technologies Computer Use Policies

  • "Authorized Uses of Public Academic Computing Facilities"
  • "Rules of Ethical Conduct for Computer Use"
  • "Data Administration"
  • "Ownership and Use of Data"

Personnel Policies

  • Loyola Personnel Policy #22 - "Guidelines for Employee Conduct"
  • Loyola Personnel Policy #24 - "Release of Confidential Information"

Other Policies

  • Student Handbook - section on "Confidentiality of Records and Release of Student Information"
  • Employee Handbook - section on "Personal Business"
  • University Phone Directory - section on "Personal Calls" under "General Information and Dialing Instructions"
  • Policy #12-2701.001 - "US Mail Inbound" from the LUMC "Material Services Policies and Procedures" manual

Relationship of This Policy with Others

This policy supplements the Access and Acceptable Use of University Computing, Networking, Telephony, and Information Resources and the Access and Acceptable Use of Public Access Computing and Networking Facilities and Services which are available and can be found on the Loyola University Chicago campus-wide information servers. The University reserves the right to change the information, requirements and procedures announced in this policy. This policy will continue to be in effect until a further revision is required and promulgated. Consult the campus computing center or the appropriate system administrator for information on other policies, procedures or directives that supplement this policy.

History

  • April 1, 2006: Initial Policy
  • June 23, 2015: Annual Review for PCI Compliance
  • May 3, 2016: Annual Review for PCI Compliance
  • June 21, 2017: Annual Review for PCI Compliance
  • Sep 6, 2018: Annual Review for PCI Compliance
  • Sep 24, 2019: Annual Review for PCI Compliance
  • Version: 1.1