Help Index > Security Information and Advisories

Frequently Asked Questions

IT Policy and IT Monitoring
All members of the MCG community are required to comply with MCG and MCGHI policies and procedures related to the acceptable computer use. The appropriate use and protection of all information systems and associated resources is expected from all users including faculty, students, employees and visitors throughout the institution. "Appropriate use" of information systems resources is use that furthers the mission of MCG. Users are expected to honor copyrights and software licenses and comply with all federal and state laws including those prohibiting slander, libel, harassment and obscenity.

MCG policies are available at www.mcg.edu/policies/2406.html.
MCG Health Inc. policies are available at hi.mcg.edu/aboutus/PDFPolicies/12_03.pdf.

This document provides frequently asked questions and answers about these policies. If you have any related questions that you would like us to answer, please e-mail Mark Staples at mstaples@mcg.edu and we will include them in future editions.

1. Under what circumstances will you monitor Internet use?

We do keep a log of all the sites accessed, including information about what sites were visited, by whom and when. We will ONLY look at Internet access logs (or other system data) under the following circumstances.

• If we receive a request from Human Resources as part of a disciplinary investigation.
• If we notice any activity that affects the services we provide. For example; disruption to the network, excessive or lengthy file downloads or hacking.
• To check that we are meeting regulations, to meet legal requirements, or for business monitoring purposes

2. How private is my e-mail?

Your e-mail account (on MCG's computer systems) will under most circumstances* be regarded as private and we will not as a matter of course read your e-mail.

*We will ONLY look at your MCG e-mail account under the following circumstances.

• If we receive a request from Human Resources as part of a disciplinary investigation.
• If we notice any activity that affects the services we provide. For example; disruption to the network, excessive or lengthy file downloads or hacking.
• For administrative purposes - but only following a report from you about a problem with your e-mail account.
• To check that we are meeting regulations, to meet legal requirements, or for business monitoring purposes

Remember that use of a Medical College of Georgia e-mail address carries with it the good name and reputation of the establishment. If you want an account that is 100% your own we suggest that you sign-up with an external web-based e-mail service.

3. Who has access to the monitoring equipment, how are you protecting confidential information? 

You can be assured that access to monitoring equipment is password protected and is limited to a small number of approved Computing Services staff. All such access is given with the knowledge of the Information Technology Director, who is the instigator of MCG's Information Systems Security and Computer Usage Policy.

4. Under what circumstances will you involve the police

If we believe that a crime has or is being committed, we will co-operate fully with the police and provide e-mail and Internet activity logs if requested.

5. What web sites do you block?

If you try to access these sites you will be redirected to the IT Policy homepage. At the moment we are blocking hardcore pornography, hacking and MP3 related sites in specific areas of the network. There is no intention to extend blocking to other subject areas, although we reserve the right to do so in the future, after consultation with schools and departments. We are however flexible and understand that for academic reasons you may need to access contentious material - if you need to access hardcore pornography, hacking software or MP3 files as part of your course or for teaching purposes please consult an Information Technology director. We do not block sites that provide educational information about sex or sex related issues. 

In addition to these measures, we employ our firewall to block services that we know may affect network performance, for example, Kazaa and Napster.

6. Why do you block certain sites?

We do this for several reasons,

• To adhere to the USG BOR Computer Security Policy.
• To reduce network congestion

Blocking of web sites is not intended as a mechanism to protect staff, students or visitors from harmful material, nor is it intended to restrict the institutions activities, hence the provision to access certain areas (as detailed in question five above).

7. Can I use my MCG computer to surf the net, book holidays and look at sites that are of not directly educationally related?

The Peachnet Acceptable Use Policy states that our Peachnet Internet connection "exists for the purposes of transmitting and sharing information among the units of the University System, transmitting and sharing information between the units of the University System and external organizations that provide benefit to or derive benefit from any of those units, and extending network connectivity services to other educational entities, schools, and libraries."  We recognize that the definition of educational is a broad one and provided you are not accessing contentious material we leave the decision of what sites you visit and when to your line manager.

8. As a line-manager will you provide me with information about what sites a member of my staff accessed, when they accessed them and how long they have spent online?

No. We will only provide this information to Human Resources as part of disciplinary investigation.

9. Will Computing Services provide staff with assignments and other student documents obtained from a student accounts?

No, to protect the student's privacy and to avoid misrepresentation we will not, under any circumstances do this. If you need assignment or other files you must get these directly from the students concerned.

10. I have recently received unsolicited pornographic junk e-mails. What can I do about these, will I get into trouble for receiving them?

All of us regularly receive junk e-mail and sometimes these advertise sex-related products or pornography. If you get such e-mails please just delete them. You will not get in trouble for receiving such e-mails unless you requested them in the first place (e.g.: by joining a mailing list). For more information about "junk" or offensive e-mail please see the Computing Help section called Putting a Halt to Junk Mail.

If you have any further questions about this document or new questions that you'd like to see added, please contact Mark Staples at mstaples@mcg.edu