Thursday, November 19, 2009

What is an acceptable use policy? Who decides what constitutes acceptable use? What can happen if you violate an acceptable use policy?

Acceptable use policies are relatively new in the emerging world of technology in the workplace. As corporations/universities/small businesses are forced to provide services to their employees/students, a set of rules governing the use of these services needed to be developed. These “Acceptable Use Policies”, or AUP’s, are designed to denote what is allowed and what is not allowed in the use of technology services. Traditionally the entity providing these services is the one to determine what they consider to be acceptable use. This is usually ratified via written or verbal understanding on the part of the user. Once in place, all users of the services provided are expected to adhere to the definition of acceptable use. When an AUP is violated, a punishment is usually outlined within the AUP itself. Violations are usually dealt with according the their severity, but repercussions can range from temporary loss of user privileges, all the way to lawsuit and imprisonment in the case of larger corporations. Any person using technology based services from their employer or university should be sure they are clear on the AUP in place and be familiar with the potential punishments for violation.

No comments:

Post a Comment