Appropriate and Responsible Use of Educational and Information Technology Procedures

VCC has developed procedures that apply to the College's email and other electronic communications to ensure they are in compliance with the Canadian Anti-Spam legislation (CASL).

Failure to comply with CASL could result in significant fines to the College, among other things. CASL has administrative monetary penalties of up to $1 million per violation (for individuals) and up to $10 million per violation (for organizations). If a College employee sends an email that contravenes CASL (such as an email without the necessary consent, or an email that does not have the requisite unsubscribe mechanism), the College could be held liable, if the employee was acting within the scope of his or her employment. The employee could also be fined personally.

1. As a rule, before sending a Commercial Electronic Message (CEM), you must have the recipient's implied or express consent.

1. Express consent – Express consent is consent that has been provided orally or in writing. Once you have secured recipients' express consent, then you may continue to send them CEMs indefinitely unless they “unsubscribe” from further messages.

1. Oral consent should be avoided unless you have a way to verify the consent, such as an unedited audio recording. It is preferable to obtain express consent in writing, as this makes it easier to verify that the consent was provided. You may request individuals to provide their written consent in various ways, e.g. by signing a document, sending you an email, entering information into a web form, or clicking on an a checkbox or an “I Accept” button on a web page.

2. Implied consent – recipient falls into a category where the recipient's consent to receive electronic messages can be implied. Some of the relevant examples of implied consent include where the recipient is one or more of the following:
   
   
   
   1. a student currently enrolled at the College;
   
   
   2. a member of the alumni association within the past 2 years;
   
   
   3. a person who made a donation to the College or volunteered for the College in the past 2 years;
   
   
   4. a person who made an inquiry or application to the College in the past 6 months;
   
   
   5. a person who provided their email address to the College without prohibition on receiving CEMs, and the message relates to the recipient's job, title or official capacity.
   
   
   
   

2. The sender has obtained consent from the recipient of the message (“Consent Requirement”)


3. The message contains certain information about the sender and an unsubscribe mechanism (“Content Requirement”). CASL also prohibits fraudulent data collection, including altering transmission data; installing a computer program, or use of a computer program to send messages, without express consent; and collecting personal information from a computer using a computer program or unauthorized access.

Following are examples of messages sent by VCC that do fall under the scope of the CASL:

1. A message about a sale of sweatshirts at the VCC Bookstore


2. A message promoting a VCC-branded credit card


3. A message promoting an event at VCC to perspective students who have not expressed an interest in communicating with VCC within the last 6 months.


4. A message promoting tutorial services offered by a third party

Messages that do not relate to the core activities of VCC may nevertheless be exempted from the CASL. The exemptions are as follows:

1. Messages sent by or on behalf of an individual to another individual with whom they have a personal or family relationship;


2. Messages sent to a person who is engaged in a commercial activity and consists solely of an inquiry or application related to that activity;


3. Messages sent within an organization that concern the activities of that organization;


4. Messages sent between organizations with a relationship that concern the activities of the receiving organization;


5. Messages sent in response to requests, inquiries or complaints, or otherwise solicited by the recipient;


6. Messages sent to satisfy, provide notice of, or enforce a right, legal or juridical obligation;


7. Messages sent on an electronic messaging service if the required information and unsubscribe mechanism are readily available on the user interface, and the recipient has consented to receive the message;


8. Messages sent to a limited-access secure and confidential account to which messages can only be sent by the person who provides the account;


9. Messages that a sender reasonably believes will be accessed in a listed foreign state, and conform to the anti-spam laws of such foreign state;


10. Messages sent by or on behalf of a registered charity as defined in s.248(1) of the Income Tax Act, and have as their primary purpose raising funds; and


11. Messages sent by or on behalf of a political party or organization or a candidate for publicly elected office that has as its primary purpose soliciting a contribution.

Appropriate and Responsible Use Guidelines:

Copyright. Respect the legal protection provided by copyright and license to programs and data. End-Users must respect the legal protection provided by copyright laws for computer programs and data compilations and for all other works (literary, dramatic, artistic or musical). Also, users must respect the legal protection provided by trademark law and the common law for names, marks, logos, and other representations that serve to distinguish the goods or services of one person from another. End-Users must respect the rights of others by complying with all VCC policies regarding intellectual property regardless of medium (i.e. paper or electronic).

Human Rights. Respect the rights of others by complying with all College policies and Collective Agreement provisions regarding sexual, personal and other forms of harassment to individuals, groups or organizations regardless of global location.

Protection of Privacy. Respect the rights of others by preserving the privacy of personal data to which you have access and by not tampering with others' files, tapes, passwords, or accounts, or representing others when messaging or conferencing.  This includes confidential student information.

Authorized Use. Use only accounts IDs and communications facilities which you are duly authorized to use and for the purposes for which they were intended.

Integrity of Systems. Respect the integrity of computing systems and data; for example, by not making use of or intentionally developing software programs that harass other users, or infiltrate a computer or computing system, and/or damage or alter the software components of a computer or computing system, or gain unauthorized access to other facilities accessible via the network.

Ethical Use. Use computing and communication facilities in a manner which is consistent with the ethical principles set forth by the College and with accepted community standards. All applicable Canadian Federal, Provincial and Municipal laws and statutes also govern the use of the College's educational and information technology systems and networks.

Laptop Usage. Should you be provided with a College laptop, recognize the additional responsibility this brings in taking particular care of the device. Ensure that you backup your data from the laptop to your network drive. Ensure that you follow the Laptop Appropriate Use Guidelines (see Appendix B).

Use of Instant Messaging, Social Media, Social Networking or Social Software - Any form of instant messaging or social networking (real-time software) and the use of social media whose primary purpose is to facilitate communication between individuals and/or groups who share a common interest is to be done in a manner that adheres to the stated policies for the acceptable use of Appropriate and Responsible Use of Educational and Information Technology systems and data at VCC.  All communication through these channels is to be done with integrity and in an ethical manner, with a responsibility to keep VCC systems secure and VCC's reputation intact.

Commercial Use - All use of college technology assets for any business or commercial purposes must be authorized by the college.  Unauthorized use is considered a breach of this policy.

Freedom of expression - Users should be aware that, while the College has programs to screen e-mails for viruses, worms etc., its practice is not to control the information available on our campus network.

Personal Mobile Devices - Including but not limited to Laptop's, Tablet's and Smartphones.  Use of personal devices is permitted while at VCC.  All users must comply with the acceptable use policy and guidelines.

Harassment - All users must comply with the Prevention of Harassment, Discrimination, and Bullying Policy 201.

Examples of illegal uses

The following are representative examples only and do not comprise a comprehensive list of illegal uses:

• Uttering threats (by computer, mobile device or telephone);


• Child pornography;


• Gambling, betting, or pyramid schemes; and


• Copyright infringement.

Examples of unacceptable uses

The following are representative examples only and does not comprise a comprehensive list of unacceptable uses:

• Seeking information on passwords or data belonging to another user;


• Making unauthorized copies of proprietary software, or offering unauthorized copies of proprietary software to others;


• Distribution of pornographic materials (provided that those with a legitimate academic purpose for doing so, may distribute such material for that legitimate academic purpose);


• Copying someone else's files, or programs, or examining such information unless authorized;


• Attempting to circumvent computer security methods or operating systems (e.g. subverting or obstructing a computer or network by introducing a worm or virus);


• Using VCC-provided computer accounts for commercial purposes such as promoting by broadcast non-educational profit-driven products or services;


• Intercepting or examining the content of messages, files, or communications in transit on a voice or data network.