New notice informs computer users of consent of monitoring

  • Published
  • By Donna Miles
  • American Forces Press Serice
DYESS AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  Users of DoD computer systems at Dyess soon will see a new notice on their government computer screens informing them that their e-mails are subject to monitoring and that use of the computer means they recognize and consent to that monitoring.

The revised language will appear at Dyess in December, said Capt. Kristopher Nagy 7th Communications Squadron Information Systems Flight commander.

John Grimes, DOD's chief information officer, signed a policy memo earlier this month mandating the new electronic notice and consent banner on all DOD information systems. Mr. Grimes set a Dec. 12 deadline for all Defense Department entities, including the military services, to use the revised wording.

The banner notifies users that their systems may be monitored for "penetration testing, (communications security), monitoring, network defense, quality control, and employee misconduct, law enforcement and counterintelligence investigations."

It also includes a paragraph clarifying that passwords, access cards, encryption and biometric access controls are used to provide security for the benefit of the government, not to provide personal privacy to employees.

The notice also will appear on government BlackBerry devices and other personal digital assistants and personal electronic devices, although the wording will be shorter than on computers.

The new verbiage is designed to clarify the DOD policy in light of a U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces decision. The court ruled that the current banner warning, which has been in place for a decade, does not state clearly enough that employees have no right of privacy when using government computer systems.

In that case, a servicemember received notice that she was required to undergo a random urinalysis test. She, in turn, e-mailed several other people, discussing her fear that her drug use would be detected and the steps she had taken to avoid detection, officials in Mr. Grimes' office explained.

Investigators used those e-mails as evidence in a prosecution. The servicemember was convicted and sentenced, but an appellate court set aside the findings and sentence, because the banner did not clearly state that there was no right of privacy in e-mails.

"When a user now logs they can expect there is no right to privacy'" Captain Nagy said. "If a supervisor suspects inappropriate behavior, that individual can no longer claim ignorance."

Besides monitoring inappropriate behavior it also allows them to monitor threats from outside sources.

Defense Department officials said monitoring is critical in ensuring government systems aren't compromised by viruses or hackers, and to identify threats as early as possible.

"In order to protect DOD information systems, DOD needs to be able to monitor all traffic flowing through and across DOD systems," an official said.

(Senior Airman Joel Mease Contributed to this article)