The Board of Education recognizes its staff members' right to privacy in their personal lives. This policy serves to inform staff members of the Board's position with respect to staff-member privacy in the educational and workplace setting and to protect the Board's interests.

All computers, telephone systems, electronic mail systems, and voice mail systems are the Board's property and are to be used primarily for business purposes. The Board retains the right to access and review all electronic and voice mail, computer files, data bases, and any other electronic transmissions contained in or used in conjunction with the Board's computer system, telephone system, electronic mail system, and voice mail system. Staff members should have no expectation that any information contained on such systems is confidential or private.

Review of such information may be done by the District with or without notice or the staff member's knowledge. The use of passwords does not guarantee confidentiality, and the Board retains the right to access information in spite of a password. All passwords or security codes must be registered with the Board. A staff member's refusal to permit such access may be grounds for discipline up to and including discharge.

Privacy in communication over the Internet and the Network is not guaranteed. To ensure compliance with the guidelines, the Board reserves the right to monitor, review, and inspect any directories, files, and/or messages residing on or sent using the Board's computers/network. Messages relating to or in support of illegal activities will be reported to the appropriate authorities.

The Board has software and systems in place that monitor and record all Internet, World Wide Web, and computer usage. The Board wants users to be aware that security systems are capable of recording, for each and every user, each World Wide Web site visit, the amount of time spent actively using the World Wide Web, each chat, news group access, e-mail message, and every file transfer into and out of our internal networks to the Internet. No District student or employee should have any expectation of privacy as to his/her Internet or World Wide Web usage, or the privacy of any electronic mail message, file, download, note, or other data stored on or transmitted or received through any Board computing facility. The Board reserves the right to review computing activity and analyze usage patterns, and may choose to publicize this data to assure that the Board's computing resources are devoted to maintaining the highest standards of educational benefit and employee productivity. Messages relating to or in support of illegal activities will be reported to the appropriate authorities. The use of passwords does not guarantee confidentiality, and the Board retains the right to access information in spite of a password.

Computers, electronic mail, and voice mail are to be used for business and educational purposes. Personal messages via Board-owned technology should be limited in accordance with the District Administrator's guidelines. Staff members are encouraged to keep their personal records and personal business at home.

Because the Board's computer and voice mail systems are to be used primarily for business and educational purposes, staff members are prohibited from sending offensive, discriminatory, or harassing computer, electronic, or voice mail messages.

The Board is interested in its resources being properly used. Review of computer files, electronic mail, and voice mail will only be done in the ordinary course of business and will be motivated by a legitimate business reason. If a staff member's personal information is discovered, the contents of such discovery will not be reviewed by the Board, except to the extent necessary to determine if the Board's interests have been compromised. Any information discovered will be limited to those who have a specific need to know that information.

The administrators and supervisory staff members authorized by the District Administrator have the authority to search and access information electronically.

All computers and any information or software contained therein are property of the Board. Staff members shall not copy, delete, or remove any information or data contained on the Board's computers/servers without the express permission of the District Administrator or communicate any such information to unauthorized individuals. In addition, staff members may not copy software on any Board computer and may not bring software from outside sources for use on Board equipment without the prior approval of the District Administrator. Such pre-approval will include a review of any copyright infringements or virus problems associated with such outside software.

In accordance with State law, any staff member who sends an electronic message with the intent to frighten, intimidate, threaten, or harass another person or sends a message containing lewd, obscene, or profane language will be subject to appropriate discipline by the District and may be found guilty of a Class D misdemeanor.

No staff member will be required to provide District administration with access to personal internet accounts, such as social media accounts, that are password protected. This does not preclude administration from reviewing the contents of such accounts that are not restricted and are thus in the public domain, or from receiving information from those granted access to private information, provided that the District administration does not solicit the receipt of such information. Additionally, if private accounts are accessed from the District’s computers, network and Internet services ("Network"), the staff member should have no expectation of privacy in the content of any files or records of their online activity while on the network as prescribed in Policy 7540.04 – Staff Network and Internet Acceptable Use and Safety.

947.0125, 995.55 Wis. Stats.