DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY
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OFFICE SYMBOL                                                                                      Date

MEMORANDUM FOR SEE DISTRIBUTION

SUBJECT: Battalion/Brigade Policy Memorandum #25 - Email/Internet Access Policy

1.	References.

a.	Joint Ethics Regulation, DoD 5500.7-R, Aug 93, and Change 2, 25 Mar 96.

b.	AR 25-1, Army Knowledge Management and Information Technology, July 2012.

2.	Both government provided and Commercial Off-the-Shelf (COTS) email or web based personal electronic mail (email) messages are authorized when considered to be in the best interest of the government, when sent during reduced usage periods (1130-1300 and 1800 - 0600) or when they do not interrupt or interfere with the conduct of official business. Email content, whether sent or received, must comply with and not be in violation of Army regulations or policies, to include Army Equal Opportunity and Sexual Harassment.

3.	Examples of authorized email messages include:

a.	Messages to friends/family with accounts on commercial hosts concerning matters requiring immediate attention.

b.	Messages to other email account holders for similar purposes as described above when telephone communications are either not available or impractical.

4.	Examples of unauthorized email messages include:

a.	Bulk or high-volume email messages of a personal or commercial nature (Spam).

b.	Any message that disrupts or interferes with the conduct of official business.

c.	Chain email, messages associated with illegal activities, or messages that may bring embarrassment or discredit upon the US government or government organizations.

d.	Messages sent for the purpose of personal or commercial advertising, soliciting or selling.

e.	Messages, expressing partisan political opinions sent to support political candidates, parties, or causes, or messages that show disrespect or contempt of past or present commanders in chief or elected officials, which are in violation of AR 600-20 and Title 10 United States Code.

f.	Messages which contain any government restricted or sensitive information sent to any nongovernment entity, commercial host or person; this information includes Sensitive but Unclassified (SBU), For Official Use Only (FOUO), Personally Identifiable Information (PII) (unless limited wholly to only a user's own Pll), Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) protected information, or any type of Classified information (spillage).

5.	"Surfing" the web.

a.	Permitted during normal low bandwidth usage times (1130-1300 and 1800-0600).

b.	No Soldier or DoD employee will access sites that are pornographic, promote hate, or may cause embarrassment to the government.

c.	Specifically, no Soldier or DoD employee will access file sharing sites. These sites often contain dangerous programs that may give outsiders access or download MALWARE or SPYWARE to the individual workstation, as well as violate copyright laws.

d.	Additionally, downloading unofficial files from the Internet is also unauthorized due to the high risk involved of downloading malicious codes or viruses.

e.	Due to the high bandwidth requirement, continuous streaming of content, especially video (such as TV over Internet), is not authorized unless required for conduct of official business.

f.	If encountered, users must immediately report any classified information (spillage) or credible evidence of a serious crime found on any external web site or page (for example, Wikileaks) to the S2 and S6.

6.	Accessing/viewing of shared files is restricted to approved/authorized access and need-to-know only. Users are not authorized to browse network neighborhoods or access section folders or files unless authorized to view specific files. If sensitive information, such as PII, is found in network shared folders, this information is specifically forbidden to be copied or retained by any other than those with approved access.

7.	This policy is punitive. All automated information systems within the unit are subject to monitoring at any time. Violations of this policy by military personnel could result in suspension of access, derogatory information against the security clearance, or action under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Violations by civilian/contractor personnel associated with the unit could result in adverse administrative actions, to include termination of employment.

8.	The point of contact for this memorandum is the S-6 at (123) 456-7890.

FIRST M. LAST 
XXX, XX
Commanding

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