Birkbeck College Computing Regulations
1. Scope of Regulations
These regulations apply to any user (including all members of the College) using any computing facility of the College (including computers, communication networks, software, and all computer-based information systems) for any purpose (including teaching, research and administration). The regulations also apply to any user accessing the computing facilities of another institution using College facilities or by means of their own equipment.
The computing facilities provided by the College include: those run by the IT Services (ITS) which may be used for academic research, teaching and administration by any member of the College; school computing facilities whose use is usually restricted by schools to their own staff and students; and computing facilities run by the Library and administrative sections of the College which are not normally available for general use, except in the case of specific services.
These regulations apply subject to and in addition to the following laws: Data Protection Act 1998; Copyright, Designs & Patents Act 1988; and the Computer Misuse Act 1990. All users are also expected to be familiar with the CHEST Code of Conduct for the Use of Computer Software and Datasets, along with the policies and guidelines listed at the end of this document.
2. Conditions of Use
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The use of College computing facilities is conditional on prior registration with, and granting of access rights by ITS or the relevant school, unless certain facilities are specifically exempted from the need for registration (as may be the case for some school facilities). In the case of services provided by ITS, the granting of access rights is normally restricted to current College staff and undergraduate / postgraduate students.
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Registration to use computing facilities or the use of computing facilities constitutes acceptance of these regulations.
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Authorisation and or access may be withheld, withdrawn, restricted or suspended at any time by ITS or the relevant school in the interests of safety or security, for the purposes of maintaining facilities, in the interests of preventing or investigating possible abuse or misuse, or other infringement of Computing Regulations.
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The granting of access rights to most computing facilities will be by the provision of a user identifier and password. Users must not use another user's user reference or password, nor allow any password issued to them to become known to any other person, nor, having logged in, leave computing facilities unattended and potentially usable by some other person.
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Users must notify the ITS Reception or the school computer representative of any change in their status which may affect their right to use computing facilities.
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The use of College computing facilities for commercial gain or for personal purposes is not permitted.
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The College will not accept responsibility for charges arising from the unauthorised use of facilities at other locations. Any charges incurred in contravention of this rule will have to be reimbursed by the user.
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Users must adhere to the terms and conditions of all licence agreements relating to the use of computing facilities. In particular, users must respect the copyright of all materials and software made available for educational use under the CHEST Code of Conduct for the Use of Computer Software and Datasets.
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Users must not use the College computing facilities to hold or process personal data on individuals except in accordance with the provisions of the Data Protection Act 1998.
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Users must not modify any software nor incorporate any part of the provided software into their own work without permission from ITS or school computer representative.
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No equipment or other computing facility may be moved without the prior agreement of ITS or school computer representative.
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No equipment may be connected in any way into any network or other computing facility of the College without the prior agreement of ITS or school computer representative.
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Users must take every precaution to avoid damage to equipment caused by smoking, eating or drinking in its vicinity. In particular, smoking, eating or drinking in the College 'workstation rooms' is forbidden.
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Users are expected to undertake reasonable care to avoid disrupting the work of other users (e. g. switching off mobile phones in the College 'workstation rooms' and vacating the room promptly when requested to do so for a booked class session).
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Consumables including stationery must be used for the purpose for which they are supplied and their consumption should be minimised as far as is reasonably possible.
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The user undertakes to pay any charges raised by ITS or school for the provision of computing facilities.
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Users are responsible for ensuring that they are sufficiently familiar with the operation of any equipment they use to make their use of it safe and effective and to avoid interference with the use of it by others.
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The College accepts no responsibility for the malfunctioning of any computing facility, loss of data, or the failure of any security mechanism.
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Any query or complaint about access or authorisation to use ITS services or facilities shall be referred in the first instance to the ITS Reception. In the case of school facilities, the first point of contact shall be the school computer representative.
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Queries or complaints about the availability of ITS services or facilities shall be referred in the first instance to the ITS Help Desk / Reception.
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Users should note that communications on or through the College's computer systems may be monitored or recorded to secure effective system operations and for other lawful purposes.
3. Abuse and Misuse
The College will take a very serious view of behaviour that jeopardises the provision of computing facilities and services, or their security and integrity. In addition to the terms and conditions of use including those relating to copyright and data privacy covered in Section 2, the following examples of computer misuse are specifically forbidden:
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Users must not cause any form of damage to the College's computing facilities, nor to any of the accommodation or services associated with them.
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Users must not deliberately introduce any virus, worm, Trojan horse or other harmful or nuisance program or file into any computing facility, nor take deliberate action to circumvent any precautions taken or prescribed by the College to prevent this.
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Users must not exceed the terms of their registration in the use of computing facilities. In particular they must not connect to any other computing facility without the permission of the designated authority.
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Users must not copy, examine, amend or delete the data or data structures of other users without their permission.
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Users must not create, store, exchange, display, print or circulate offensive material in any form or medium (including abusive electronic mail and pornographic material).
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Users must not forge or attempt to forge the identity of the sender of a message or a posting.
Users are also warned against the inappropriate use of limited resources for non-academic purposes (e. g. game playing, storing non-academic related work, printing for private purposes, private email or web browsing).
4. Penalties and Sanctions
In the event of any infringement of these regulations the Director of ITS (or designated deputy) or Assistant Dean/Director of Professional Service Department, as appropriate, may take action as follows:
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Withdraw the use of computing facilities or issue a warning for minor offences.
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Refer the case to College authorities to be dealt with in accordance with the appropriate disciplinary procedures for students and staff. This could result in suspension of students or dismissal of staff. In the event of a serious infringement the College may also decide to institute legal proceedings under civil or criminal law relating to computer misuse.
Other Policies/Guidelines
You should also be aware of the following policies and guidelines:
- Acceptable Use of IT Services Workstation Rooms
- Birkbeck College Guidelines on the Responsible Use of Electronic Mail
- Birkbeck Network Security Policy
- Code of Practice for using the World Wide Web
- Data Protection Code of Practice
- Data Protection Policy
- Guidelines for Personal Web Pages
- JANET Acceptable Use Policy
- Wireless and Mobile Computing Policy