IT Acceptable Use Policy (AUP)

Somerville College provides IT and network facilities for use by members of the College and visitors to the College subject to the terms and conditions stated in this policy. Under no circumstances shall this policy limit the applicability or obscure the intentions of any other policy or legislation that already govern computer use at Somerville College.

Definition of Terms

  1. Without limiting its generality, the term IT facilities shall be taken to include: free standing computers, networked computers, time-shared computers and terminals; services or software running on those systems; networking that connects a computer or terminal to any other computer or terminal; computer peripherals; media (CDs, DVDs, USB Memory Sticks, etc.); components; operating manuals and other documentation.

External Conditions of Use

  1. Some IT facilities are provided by Somerville College through contractual agreements with third party organisations. Users of IT facilities must abide by the terms and conditions of these agreements such as are in force at the time;
  2. Of prime importance is the JANET Acceptable Use Policy as stated by UKERNA (latest version is available online athttps://community.jisc.ac.uk/library/acceptable-use-policy).
  3. Users must read this before using computer facilities at Somerville College.A copy may be provided; otherwise you should obtain this for yourself. If you have difficulty obtaining this document then please contact IT Support as described in the ‘Reporting of Problems’ section;
  4. Other requirements specific to computer use currently include:
    • Computer Misuse Act (1990);
    • Data Protection Act (1998);
    • Rules of Oxford University Computing Services;
    • Oxford University Statement of IT Security and Privacy;
    • Oxford University disclaimer of liability;
    • Microsoft CAMPUS agreement;
    • Licenses for other installed software.

Authorisation to Use IT Facilities

  1. Authorisation to use IT facilities may only be granted by the IT Systems Manager of Somerville College. Authorisation will generally be granted to members of the College and visitors registered with the College;
  2. It is not permitted for members of the College and visitors to allow use of Somerville College IT facilities by anyone not registered with the College

Acceptable Use

  1. IT facilities are provided for use by visitors during their stay at Somerville College;
  2. Under no circumstances may IT facilities be used for conducting business or other commercial activities;
  3. Users of IT facilities are not permitted to use IT facilities for any of the following:
    • any unlawful activity;
    • the creation, transmission, storage, downloading or display of any offensive, obscene, indecent or menacing images, data or other material or any data capable of being resolved into such images or material;
    • the creation or transmission of material which is designed or likely to cause annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety, or to harass another person;
    • the creation or transmission of defamatory material about any individual or organisation;
    • the sending of any email that does not correctly identify the sender of that email or attempts to disguise the identity of the computer from which it was sent;
    • the transmission, without proper authorisation, of email to a large number of recipients, unless those recipients have indicated an interest in receiving such email, or the sending or forwarding of email which is intended to encourage the propagation of copies of itself;
    • the creation, access or transmission of material in such a way as to infringe a copyright, moral right, trade mark or other intellectual property right;
    • private profit, except to the extent authorised under the users conditions of employment or other agreement with the College; or commercial purposes without specific authorisation;
    • gaining or attempting to gain unauthorised access to any facility or service within or outside Somerville College, or making any attempt to disrupt or impair such a service;
    • the deliberate or reckless undertaking of activities such as may result in the following:
      • the waste of staff effort or network resources, including time on any system accessible via the Colleges network;
      • the corruption or disruption of data;
      • the violation of the privacy of other users;
      • the disruption of the work of other users;
      • the introduction or transmission of a virus into the network.

Monitoring and Control

  1. Somerville College IT facilities are managed by appointed system administrators who are the IT Systems Manager and the IT Support Assistants;
  2. The system administrators reserve the right to monitor the usage of IT facilities, including network traffic. Any records taken will be retained for an appropriate length of time and will be held securely;
  3. In the event of an alleged breach of this policy, or other circumstances that are deemed by the system administrators to warrant such a response, then access to IT facilities may be restricted or suspended. Members of the College and Visitors will be notified of the reasons and action taken.

Reporting of Problems

  1. A Member of the College or Visitor may contact IT staff during office hours by email to helpdesk@some.ox.ac.uk or by telephone on 01865 (2)70597;
  2. Any problems with the provided IT facilities should be reported in a timely manner so that IT staff can make suitable arrangements;
  3. If consumable resources (e.g. paper, toner) are running low and need replenishing then this should be reported before they are exhausted so that IT staff have adequate time to acquire suitable stock.