The policy and regulations must be in compliance with both state and federal privacy laws. We are entering an era of growing emphasis on integrated case management for social service clients. Integrating case management requires communication between government agencies and education institutions, and sometimes, with private agencies. As these parties gain Internet access, the most efficient means of sharing information will be electronic. This will raise concerns about the security of the transmission, as well as the handling of information stored in electronic form by the sender and recipient.
Privacy is privacy, whether the private information is contained in a letter or an e-mail message.
What raises concern is the ease with which private information can be transmitted when it is in electronic form, leading to inadvertent, inappropriate disclosure. The first category is illegal actions. This includes attempts to break into or exceed authorized limits on a computer system and the intentional distribution of viruses or worms. The Internet use policy may reference specific criminal laws on these issues. The second category are those actions that employees should take to assist in keeping the network secure.