This bulletin is to remind Department of Justice employees of the specific policies governing use of this technology, as set forth below. Implementation of the EAGLE and AMICUS office automation systems throughout the litigating divisions, the US Attorney offices and the senior management offices is leading to creation of an ever-widening electronic mail network in the Department of Justice.

Employee Use of Electronic Mail

Government-provided electronic mail is intended for official and authorized purposes. Electronic mail users must exercise common sense, good judgment, and propriety in the use of this Government resource. While short personal messages are acceptable, parallel to the way Government telephones are sometimes used, other non-official uses are prohibited. Personal messages sent to groups of people are likely to fall in the category of prohibited use. Therefore, personal messages should not be sent to large groups. In accordance with 28 CFR 45.735-16, employees are specifically prohibited from using EAGLE, AMICUS, or other Departmental electronic mail systems to disseminate information on any non-Governmental activities, including, but not limited to, charitable events, religious observances, fund-raisers, and personal businesses. Employees who misuse Government resources in this way may have electronic mail privileges withdrawn and may be subject to disciplinary action.

Electronic Mail and Sensitive Information

Employees must remember that neither the AMICUS nor the EAGLE system was designed with the safeguards necessary for handling classified (national security) information. Therefore, these systems must never be used for storing (even temporarily) or processing such classified information. Consistent with paragraph 7.a.(1) of DOJ Order 2620.7, entitled "Control and Protection of Limited Official Use Information," each Departmental organization must issue directives and provide appropriate safeguards for storing and protecting sensitive, unclassified (Limited Official Use) information such as grand jury and tax return information. Consistent with this directive, such limited-official-use information should only be entered in (or attached to) an electronic message where expressly authorized by the policies of a Departmental component.

Electronic Mail and Privacy

Although the Department has no intention of reading employees' electronic mail out if idle curiosity, Government employees should have no expectation of privacy when using the EAGLE/AMICUS electronic mail system. Electronic mail is not inherently confidential. System administrators and others with special system-level access privileges are expressly prohibited from reading the electronic mail of others unless authorized by appropriated senior management officials. However, users should understand that there is no guarantee that technical or administrative problems may not create a situation in which it is necessary for an administrator or system manager to read message text. Moreover, the Department views electronic mail messages to be Government property, and Departmental officials may have access to those messages whenever there is a legitimate Governmental purpose for such access. Users should treat the electronic mail system as similar to the Government-provided inter-office mail system.

For Further Information

If you have any questions about electronic mail, please contact the EAGLE system manager for your system, the EAGLE Office (514-3404/FTS 368-3404) or the AMICUS Project Team (307-0576/FTS 367-0576), as appropriate.