TREASURY DIRECTIVE 87-04
DATE: December 21, 2005
SUNSET REVIEW: December 21, 2009
SUBJECT: Personal Use of Government Information Technology Resources
1. PURPOSE. This Directive defines acceptable personal use of Government information technology (IT) resources by Department of the Treasury employees. This policy should serve as the minimum standard for personal use.
2. SCOPE. This Directive applies to all bureaus, offices and organizations in the Department of the Treasury, including the Office of the Inspector General, and the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. The policy applies to all Treasury employees, including consultants, detailees, temporary employees, and interns (hereafter called employees), and contractors performing work for the Department of the Treasury, its offices, and bureaus, whenever the employee is working in a government-designated office, traveling, or working from home on behalf of the Department.
3. POLICY. It is the policy of the Department of the Treasury to:
a. allow employees the privilege to use Government IT resources for non-government purposes, when such use involves minimal additional expense to the Government and does not overburden any of the Department’s IT resources;
b. permit limited personal use to employees during non-duty time for periods of reasonable duration and frequency of use;
c. grant use that does not adversely affect the performance of official duties or interfere with the mission or operations of the Department, bureaus or offices;
d. ensure that computer systems and networks are not used for downloading illegal, inappropriate, and/or unauthorized copyrighted content, including illegal downloads using file sharing programs, and downloading un-trusted, unapproved, or malicious software; and
e. authorize use that does not violate the Office of Government Ethics (OGE) Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch found at 5 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 2635, the Supplemental Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Treasury Department found at 5 CFR Part 3101, Employee Responsibilities and Conduct 5 CFR Part 735, and the Department of the Treasury Employee Rules of Conduct found at 31 CFR Part 0.
The personal use of Government IT resources requires responsible judgment, supervisory discretion and compliance with applicable laws and regulations. See Appendix A, for specific
guidance applicable to this policy. Employees must be aware of information technology security issues, which are addressed in the Department of the Treasury TD P 85-01, Treasury IT Security Program (http://intranet.treas.gov/eitspa/documents/td85-01/).
In addition, employees should be aware their rights to privacy do not change even during limited periods of personal use. An individual has no right to privacy, nor should they have an expectation, of privacy while using any Government IT resources at any time. See Appendix A, paragraph 5 for a more detailed statement of this issue.
4. DEFINITIONS.
a. Employee non-duty time means times when the employee is not otherwise expected to be addressing official business. Employees may, for example, use Government IT resources during their off-duty hours such as before or after a workday (subject to local office hours), lunch periods, authorized breaks, or weekends or holidays (if their duty station is normally available at such times). The use of Government IT resources during the aforementioned periods should be determined and/or agreed to by the employees and the organization’s managers.
b. Government IT resources including office and telephone equipment includes but is not limited to: office and telephone equipment, personal computers and laptops, related peripheral equipment and application software, library resources, telephone equipment and services (including phone sets, cell phones, blackberries, pagers, palm pilots, and voice mail), fax machines, photocopiers, Internet connectivity and access to Internet services, and e-mail but does not include the use of franked or official envelopes and stationary, and mailing labels.
c. Information technology means any equipment or interconnected system or subsystem of hardware or application software that is used in the automatic acquisition, storage, manipulation, management, movement, control, display, switching, interchange, transmission, or reception of data.
d. Minimal additional expense means employee's limited personal use of Government IT resources is confined to those situations where the Government is already providing resources or services and the employee's use of such resources or services will not result in any additional expense to the Government, or the use will result in fair wear and tear, or the use of small amounts of electricity, ink, toner or paper. Examples of minimal additional expenses include, making a few photocopies, using a computer printer to print out a few pages of material, making occasional brief personal phone calls (within Department policy and 41 CFR § 101-35.201), infrequently sending personal e-mail messages, or limited use of the Internet for personal reasons.
e. Limited personal use means activity by employees that is conducted during personal time in the course of the business day is considered an "authorized use" of government property as the term is used in the Standards of Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch (5 CFR§ 2635.101 (b) (9) and § 2635.704 (a)). Employees are specifically prohibited from the pursuit of private commercial business activities or profit-making ventures using Government IT resources. The ban also includes employees using the Government IT resources to assist relatives, friends, or other persons in such activities (e.g., employees may not operate or participate in the operation of a business with the use of the Department’s IT and Internet resources).
f. Privilege, in the context of this policy, means that the Department is extending the opportunity to its employees to use government property for limited personal use in an effort to create a more supportive work environment. However, this policy does not create the right to use Government IT resources for non-government purposes. Nor does the privilege extend to modifying the equipment used, including loading personal software, copying existing software, or making configuration changes. Bureaus’ and offices’ specific exceptions may be necessary, for example, to accommodate traveling staff members with a valid need to load money management software for keeping track of travel expenses.
g. File Sharing Technology, also known as Peer-to-Peer (P2P), generally refers to any software or system allowing individual users of the Internet to connect to each other and trade computer files. These systems are usually highly decentralized and are designed to facilitate connections between persons who are looking for certain types of files. While there are many appropriate uses of this technology, a number of studies show the vast majority of files traded on P2P networks are copyrighted music files and pornography. Data also suggests P2P is a common avenue for the spread of computer viruses within IT systems, and has been known to dominate a disproportionate segment of an organization’s available bandwidth.
5. RESPONSIBILITIES.
a. The Treasury Chief Information Officer (CIO) has Department-wide responsibilities to manage IT including IT security and formulate Departmental policies on IT. The Office of the CIO will disseminate additional policy appropriate to this subject and provide, as necessary, assistance to Treasury offices and bureaus in its implementation.
b. The Heads of Bureaus and Offices, the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Headquarters Operations, the Inspector General, and the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration are responsible for ensuring this policy is disseminated to employees and modified, as needed, with guidelines specific to the organization considering factors such as its mission, the sensitivity of its systems and information, and labor management agreements where applicable.
c. Managers should ensure that employees are informed of appropriate uses of Government IT resources as a part of their introductory training, orientation or the initial implementation of this policy (See Appendix A - Specific Guidance).
d. Employees are accountable to follow rules and regulations and to be responsible for their own personal and professional conduct. The OGE Standards of Ethical Conduct states, "Employees shall put forth honest effort in the performance of their duties" (5 CFR § 2635.101 (b)(5)). In addition, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Employee Responsibilities and Conduct states, "An employee shall not engage in criminal, infamous, dishonest, immoral, or notoriously disgraceful conduct, or other conduct prejudicial to the Government" (5 CFR § 735.203).
6. AUTHORITY.
a. 5 CFR Part 2635, Office of Government Ethics, Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch
b. 5 CFR Part 3101, Supplemental Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Department of the Treasury
c. 31 CFR Part 0, Department of the Treasury Employee Rules of Conduct
d. 5 CFR Part 735, Office of Personnel Management, Employee Responsibilities and Conduct
7. REFERENCES.
a. 5 CFR § 2635.101 (b)(5) and (9), Basic Obligation of Public Service
b. 5 CFR § 2635.702 (b), Appearance of Governmental Sanction
c. 5 CFR § 2635.704 (a) and (b)(1), Use of Government Property
d. 5 CFR § 2635.705, Use of Official Time
e. 5 CFR § 735.203, Conduct Prejudicial to the Government
f. 31 CFR § 0.213, General Conduct
g. Federal CIO Council, Recommended Executive Branch Model Policy/Guidance on "Limited Personal Use" of Government Office Equipment including Information Technology, May 19, 1999, URL: www.cio.gov/documents/peruse_model_may_1999.pdf.
h. (FPMR) 41 CFR § 101-35.201
i. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-130, Appendix III, "Security of Federal Automated Information Resources"
j. TD P 85-01, Treasury IT Security Program: (http://intranet.treas.gov/eitspa/documents/td85-01/)
k. TD P 81-01, Department of the Treasury Information Technology (IT) Manual
8. CANCELLATON. TD 87-04, “Personal Use of Government Office Equipment Including Information Technology,” dated May 17, 2004, is superseded.
9. OFFICE OF PRIMARY INTEREST. Office of Capital Planning and Information Management, and the Office of the Chief Information Officer.
/s/
Sandra L. Pack
Assistant Secretary for Management
and Chief Financial Officer