Acceptable Use Policies Research Articles

‘To be understood as to understand’: A readability analysis of public library acceptable use policies

Acceptable Use Policies (AUPs) are documents stating the limitations users must agree to when first accessing information and communications technologies (ICTs) in organisations, such as employers, educational institutions and public libraries. AUPs lay out the parameters of acceptable use expected of someone accessing the ICT services provided, and should state in clear and understandable terms what behaviours will attract sanctions, both legal and in terms of restricting future access. Utilising a range of standard readability tests used to measure how understandable documents are, the paper investigates how readable the AUPs presented to public library patrons in the UK are in practice. Of the 206 AUPs in use across the local government departments who manage public library services 200 were obtained and subjected to a range of readability testing procedures. Four readability tests were used for analysis: the Flesch Reading Ease, the Coleman-Liau Index, the Gunning Fog Index and the SMOG Grade. Results for all four readability tests administered on all AUPs raise significant questions. For the Flesch Reading Ease score only 5.5% of AUPs scored at the standard readability level or higher (60+), and 8% scored at a very high level of difficulty akin to a piece of scientific writing. Similarly, for SMOG, only 7.5% of the 200 AUPs scored at the recommended level of 10. Likewise, very few AUPs scored at levels recommended for a general audience with either the Gunning Fog Index (11.5%) or the Coleman-Liau Index (2%). With such variability in readability, the fitness for purpose of the average AUP as a contract patrons must agree to can be called into question. This paper presents the first ever analysis of the readability of library AUPs in the literature. Recommendations are made as to how public library services may improve this aspect of practice.

The tension between caring surveillance and controlling surveillance in the public library

ABSTRACTThis visual presentation will take the format of a poster, displaying the preliminary results of a study into acceptable use policies (AUPs) in UK public libraries. This study seeks to understand how surveillance is used in the public library and if surveillance is used in a caring or controlling way. This research used discourse analysis to analyse the content of 200 acceptable use policies in the UK. Results indicate that libraries use both caring and controlling surveillance, with more instances of controlling surveillance being found, and that there appears to be tension between the usage of caring and controlling surveillance in public libraries in the UK.

Nontechnical Deterrence Effects of Mild and Severe Internet Use Policy Reminders in Reducing Employee Internet Abuse

ABSTRACTThis two-stage longitudinal study examines how employee Internet abuse may be reduced by nontechnical deterrence methods, specifically via organizational acceptable use policies (AUPs). This study used actual employee usage and audit logs (not self-reporting survey measures) to monitor the web activity of employees. In stage 1, a mild AUP reminder sent to company employees resulted in a 12% decrease in employee Internet abuse. In stage 2, a more severe AUP reminder resulted in a 33% decrease in employee Internet abuse. For both stages, the AUP warning (regardless of severity level) resulted in an immediate and significant decrease in employee nonwork Internet use. Results indicate that the severe AUP treatment was more effective in reducing and maintaining lower levels of employee nonwork Internet use than the mild AUP treatment. Under the mild AUP treatment, employee nonwork Internet use levels returned to their pretreatment levels after only one week. However, under the severe AUP treatment, employee nonwork Internet use levels were lower than the mild AUP treatment and remained consistently lower than their pretreatment levels even after three weeks. These results suggest that nontechnical deterrence methods in the form of organizational IT use policies may constitute an effective approach to reducing employee Internet abuse, particularly if AUP policies are clear with regard to related sanctions and penalties for employee noncompliance.

Management of acceptable use of computing facilities in the public library: avoiding a panoptic gaze?

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the language utilised in Acceptable Use Policies (AUP) in Scottish public libraries. Through this examination the paper aims to ascertain if power relationships between local authorities, public libraries and users are apparent. Finally, the paper aims to determine if Foucault’s theory of panopticism is relevant to public libraries in this context. Design/methodology/approach – The paper analyses all 32 of the AUPs used in Scottish public libraries, applying a Foucaldian discourse analysis to the content of the policies. Findings – By thorough examination of the literature the researchers were able to extract ten key features that ought to appear in an AUP. It was found that only one of 32 local authorities included information relating to all of these features. It was also found that one local authority contained as few as four of these key features. The median number of features included in the policies was seven. It was also found that power relationships are evident and can be perceived throughout the AUPs. By identifying the key Foucauldian themes of discipline, surveillance, knowledge, and power and resistance throughout the AUPs, the researchers were able to analyse and identify the existence of power relationships and consider the implications these could have on users and on the library services being provided. Research limitations/implications – The study examines one geographic region, and is only indicative of the region concerned. In addition the usage of the qualitative methodology utilised could be deemed to have elements of subjectivity. Practical implications – The study would be of benefit to researchers and professionals interested in issues around AUPs and surveillance of library users. Originality/value – The use of Foucaldian discourse analysis is limited in library and information science research, and this study helps fill this gap. It is the first study the researchers have found that critically examines a range of public library AUPs.

Acceptable Use of Technology in Schools: Risks, Policies, and Promises

For research on pervasive computing technologies and youth to be truly significant, we must ask why mobile devices and social media applications are much less pervasive in the classroom than in other parts of youth life. Mobile devices and social media have considerable potential for learning, from both the individual-skills and socialization perspectives. However, acceptable-use policies have limited the use of mobile devices on school campuses as a response to the risks schools face in dealing with disruptive or harmful speech. Certain perceived risks and observed problems with regard to youth online underlie educators' attitudes toward pervasive technologies in formal learning settings. Educators, researchers, and designers must work together to increase understanding of the youth experience with pervasive computing technologies and provide greater access to these systems and applications in the formal schooling context.

Usage and abusage [Internet use

Organisations around the world are increasingly aware that it is critical to implement and enforce acceptable use policies (AUPs) to create a safe, compliant and efficient working environment across the growing IT enterprise. The key to good practice AUP is making sure it is implemented and policed correctly. Employees should not expect privacy with regard to anything they put on the company computer network, as the network is owned by the business. AUP needs to be concise, easily understood and remain consistent with wider business policies. It is also important that representatives of various groups or divisions within the business participate in the initial drafting stages of an AUP. (3 pages)

Internet Privacy: At Home and At Work

This paper is a summary of the tutorial on Internet privacy. The objective of the tutorial is to inform users of the Internet how and why their use of the Internet can be monitored. The focus of the tutorial will be Internet privacy at home and in the work place. The tutorial has three major sections: Technical Background, At Home and At Work. The At Home section is concerned with personal privacy infringement. This section will detail who would be interested in personal privacy infringement, how they would accomplish it, and for what purpose. This portion presents topics such as cookies and their uses and log files. In addition the At Home section discusses techniques to avoid privacy infringement (e.g. anonymizers, cookie cutter). The At Work section is concerned with employee surveillance. The topics discussed include who would be interested in this surveillance, how this surveillance would be done and for what purpose. The At Work section also discusses the concept of Acceptable Use Policies (AUP). Questions address: What purpose do AUP serve? How do AUP support or detract from employee surveillance? Both sections require a bit of technical expertise to understand how Internet activity can be monitored. The Technical Background section reviews the client/server paradigm of web computing, the important details of the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), and presents an overview of Uniform Resource Locators (URLs). These concepts are necessary to understand how Internet activity con be monitored.

Analyses of Acceptable Use Policies Regarding the Internet in Selected K–12 Schools

This study examined the presence, origins, contents, and purposes of Internet acceptable use policies (AUPs) in 100 selected K–12 schools in the United States. An online survey and a content analysis of 24 selected AUPs were used to provide data. Descriptive and qualitative analysis of the data indicated that K–12 schools are using AUPs to address the issues and concerns surrounding the Internet; most policies are developed at the district or school level; areas of liability, online behavior, system integrity, and content quality are key issues contained in AUPs; and violation of policies usually resulted in loss of Internet access.