Internet Usage Policy

This Policy shall include any and all electronic communications relating to the Town of Secaucus and shall include but not limited to any e-mail, voice mail, text messaging, computer, cell phone and internet communications.   Any Town of Secaucus e-mail, voice mail, text messaging, computer, cell phone and the Internet are for official business and use for non-business purposes is prohibited.    All e-mail, voice mail and Internet messages are official documents, and may be subject to the provisions of the New Jersey Open Public Records Act. 

Employees should have no expectation of privacy while using Township equipment, including computers or cell phones.

The Town of Secaucus reserves the right to monitor, obtain, review and disclose all E-Mail messages, text messages, cell phone media, internet communications, computer files, voice mail and Internet messages on the computer and communications systems of the Town of Secaucus as deemed necessary and appropriate.  By using the Town’s E-Mail, computer systems, cell phone/text messaging, voice mail and the Internet, each user agrees that the Town of Secaucus has unrestricted access and the right to disclose all information communicated or stored on the E-Mail, cell phone/text messages, computer systems, voice mail and the Internet for any security, health, employment or other legitimate business reasons.  Legitimate reasons also include systems maintenance, message routing, retrieval of business information, trouble-shooting hardware and software problems, preventing system misuse, protecting confidential proprietary information, insuring compliance with software license policies and complying with legal and regulatory requests for information.  EMail shall not be used to harass, torment or disparage another party.  Offensive and harassing communications are unacceptable and prohibited. 

Except in emergency situations or as part of their officially assigned or regular or permitted duties, employees are prohibited from taking any photographs, pictures, digital images, or audio recordings of any crime scenes, traffic crashes, arrestees, detainees, people, or job related incidents or occurrences with any personal analog or digital device, camera, imaging device, audio recorder or cellular telephone.  This section also applies in off duty scenarios regarding any law enforcement related activities.  Any photographs, images, or recordings taken with any device pursuant to or in violation of this section are considered evidence and are subject to applicable laws, code guidelines or directives concerning storage, release, and disposal.  Employees who have recorded any photographs, images, or recordings with any personal device shall notify their supervisor as soon as practical.  For the purposes of this section, an “emergency situation” involves a sudden and unforeseen combination of circumstances or the resulting state that calls for immediate action, assistance or relief, and may include accidents, crimes and flight from accidents or crimes.

Employees are prohibited from releasing or disclosing any photographs, pictures, digital images of any crime scenes, traffic crashes, arrestees, detainees, people or job related incidents or occurrences taken with a personal or agency analog or digital device, camera or cellular phone to any person, entity, business or media or Internet outlet whether on or off duty without the express written consent of the Town Administrator.

Employees that maintain personal web pages and web sites, including by way of example, but not limited to, Facebook, YouTube, MySpace, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Path, App.net, Slack, Ello, Google+, MySpace, Bebo, WhatsApp, This., Hi5, Peach, Yelp shall not post information on such sites that would constitute a violation of the personnel policies of the Town if expressed or published using any other medium or in any other manner.  The posting of words, phrases, photographs, images or any kind of information on a personal web site may be grounds for the imposition of disciplinary action against the employee if the words, phrases, photographs, images or information adversely reflects on the employee’s fitness for duty or constitutes a violation of the personnel policies of the Town.