Policy brief & purpose

For reference Company refers to TCG. Corporate refers to Torridge Common Ground as an entity.  Members refer to users who have been granted the use of a @torridgecommonground.org.uk email address.

Our corporate email usage policy helps members use their TCG email addresses appropriately. Email is essential to our everyday tasks. We want to ensure that our members understand the limitations of using their corporate email accounts.

Our goal is to protect our confidential data from breaches and safeguard our reputation and technological property.

Scope

This policy applies to all members, vendors and partners who are assigned (or given access to) a corporate email. This email may be assigned to an individual (e.g. member@torridgecommonground.org.uk) or department (e.g. media@torridgecommonground.org.uk)

Policy elements

Corporate emails are powerful tools that help members in their tasks. Members should use their company email primarily for TCG-related purposes. However, we want to provide members with some freedom to use their emails for personal reasons.

We will define what constitutes appropriate and inappropriate use.

Inappropriate use of company email

Our members represent our company whenever they use their corporate email address. They must not:

• Sign up for illegal, unreliable, disreputable or suspect websites and services.
• Send unauthorized marketing content or solicitation emails.
• Register for a competitor’s services unless authorized.
• Send insulting or discriminatory messages and content.
• Intentionally spam other people’s emails, including their coworkers.

Our company has the right to monitor and archive corporate emails.

Appropriate use of corporate email

Members are allowed to use their corporate email for work-related purposes without limitations. For example, members can use their email to:

• Communicate with current or prospective customers and partners.
• Log in to purchased software they have legitimate access to.
• Give their email address to people they meet at conferences, career fairs or other corporate events for business purposes.
• Sign up for newsletters, platforms and other online services that will help them with their jobs or professional growth.

Personal use

Members are allowed to use their corporate email for some personal reasons. For example, members can use their corporate email to:

• Register for classes or meetups.
• Send emails to friends and family as long as they don’t spam or disclose confidential information.
• Download ebooks, guides and other content for their personal use as long as it is safe and appropriate.

Members must adhere to this policy at all times, in addition to our confidentiality and data protection guidelines.

Email security

Email is often the medium of hacker attacks, confidentiality breaches, viruses and other malware. These issues can compromise our reputation, legality and security of our equipment.

Members must:

• Select strong passwords with at least eight characters (capital and lower-case letters, symbols and numbers) without using personal information (e.g. birthdays.)
• Remember passwords instead of writing them down and keep them secret.
• Change their email password every two months.

Also, members should always be vigilant to catch emails that carry malware or phishing attempts. We instruct members to:

• Avoid opening attachments and clicking on links when content is not adequately explained (e.g. “Watch this video, it’s amazing.”)
• Be suspicious of clickbait titles.
• Check email and names of unknown senders to ensure they are legitimate.
• Look for inconsistencies or style red flags (e.g. grammar mistakes, capital letters, excessive number of exclamation marks.)

If a user isn’t sure that an email they received is safe, they can ask our webmaster.

We remind our members to keep their anti-malware programs updated.

Email signature

We encourage members to create an email signature that exudes professionalism and represents our company well. Salespeople and executives, who represent our company to customers and stakeholders, should pay special attention to how they close emails. Here’s a template of an acceptable email signature:

[User Name]

[User Title], [Company Name with link]

[Phone number] | [Company Address]

Members may also include professional images, company logos and work-related videos and links in email signatures. If they are unsure how to do so, they can ask for help from our Office Manager or their supervisor.

Disciplinary action

Members who don’t adhere to the present policy will face action up to and including termination of the email account. Example reasons for termination are:

• Using a corporate email address to send confidential data without authorisation.
• Sending offensive or inappropriate emails to our customers, colleagues or partners.
• Using a corporate email for an illegal activity.