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Background
1. Information and communications networks,
including the Internet, are tools for transfer of information,
for communications, and for publicity. Their use is crucial in
the work of various Government officials and in providing services
for, and obtaining information from, citizens.
Purpose
2. These guidelines regulate the following
matters in the use of information and communications networks
in Government offices as working tools for staff and other persons
employed:
a. The principle of personal responsibility;
b. Information security;
c. Other rules of use;
d. Use of electronic mail;
e. Use of discussion groups and subscriber
lists;
f. Supervision;
g. Changes in these guidelines.
3. The computer, the software installed
in it, authorization to use information and communications systems
by means of a service-provider (hereinafter: the system), and
actions taken vis-a-vis information and communications networks
by means of this computer come under the personal responsibility
of the individual who uses the system regularly or intermittently
(hereinafter: the user).
4. This personal responsibility shall
apply in all the respects enumerated in these guidelines below.
Information Security
5. Use of the system- It is absolutely
forbidden to use the system with information on individuals, announcements,
messages, documents, graphics files, voice files, or any material
of any kind that must by law be kept confidential or which is
sensitive even if not confidential under law. Such information
shall be neither kept on the system nor forwarded over information
and communications networks. The system shall not be used to circumvent
protective devices installed on other computers in the office.
6. Access to the system shall be made
pursuant to user identification. A system installed in a public
location (such as a library) and connected to a communications
network may be used only when a supervisor is present and when
records of system use are kept.
7. Each employee shall choose a unique
and complex password for his/her work on the system and for electronic
mail. The password shall contain at least eight characters and
shall include a combination of upper-case and lower-case letters
(e.g., A and a), numbers (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9), and special
characters (*, &, %, $, #, !). Passwords containing telephone
numbers, names of children, continuous strings of letters, etc.,
shall not be used. Examples of inappropriate password are "qwerty",
"aaaaaaa", "6415773", and "michaly". An appropriate password would
be of the following type: "P904#nviI" or "A94&dpH*".
Other Rules of Use
8. Use of information and communications
networks is for work purposes.
9. Use of information and communications
networks shall comply with all laws and administrative provisions
that apply to civil servants (statutes, regulations, court rulings,
administrative provisions, the Civil Service Code, the General
Rules of Public Administration) and additional provisions in effect
at the employee's office.
10. Material from information and communication
systems may be downloaded only insofar as this downloading is
legal in terms of copyright laws cited with respect to the material
and only insofar as it is needed for work purposes. Software defined
as shareware or freeware may be downloaded only under the terms
of use and if payment is tendered for the use thereof. No material,
including software, shall be used in contravention of the author's
copyright thereto.
Use of Electronic Mail
11. Every letter delivered to an employee
of the office shall be answered in a manner similar to a letter
arriving by ordinary mail, as set forth in Section 61.3 of the
Civil Service Code, in terms of the stipulated deadline for response
(two weeks), determining the competent officials to respond to
inquiries, and the phrasing of the reply. If the inquiry must
be passed on to someone else in the office, the inquirer shall
be informed that his/her inquiry has been received and forwarded
to the competent official, including citation of the official's
name. In this case, the official to whom the inquiry has been
forwarded is responsible for issuing the reply. It is the office's
responsibility to create guidelines for receiving and handling
the electronic mail of a worker who is absent.
12. Every letter sent by a civil servant
using electronic mail shall include a “signature” including the
names of the author, the department, and the office. A telephone
number and address may be added.
13. UserName for electronic mail:
a. The UserName to be stipulated for
an office employee shall in no case include pejoratives or crudities.
b. The UserName shall include the worker's
full first name at the beginning, followed by the first two
letters of his/her surname. For example, an employee named Itzik
Maor shall be called Itzikma. For common names such as Levy
and Cohen, one may make the UserName unique by adding a third
letter that does not appear in the surname. For example, Moshe
Cohen would become Moshecob.
c. If the domain name of the UserName
does not include the name of the office, three letters shall
be added at the beginning of the UserName to denote the name
of the office (following the Addresses and Names in Government
Internet Procedure). For example, Itzik Maor of the Finance
Ministry, whose electronic mail address includes the domain
name "netvision.net.il," shall be called "mof_itzikma@netvision.net.il".
14. Whenever an inquiry is answered by
electronic mail, a copy of the reply shall be kept on the system
and/or in a predetermined a place in the office.
Use of Discussion Groups
and Subscriber Lists
15. Employees may participate in discussion
groups in order to keep themselves professionally up-to-date.
16. The publication of any letter in a
discussion group or a subscriber list shall be considered "public
dissemination" and, as such, shall come under the provisions of
Paragraph 42.53 of the Civil Service Code. Accordingly, no information
shall be published without approval in the manner conventionally
followed in the relevant office.
Supervision
17. Every office shall appoint an appropriate
official to supervise compliance with the provisions of these
guidelines. The supervisor's powers shall include the authority
to review files kept on the system. Each office shall also establish
administrative sanctions for infringements of the provisions of
these guidelines.
Changes in these guidelines
18. These guidelines shall be updated
from time to time and shall be disseminated publicly.
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