Federal employee Internet Bill of Rights
My last post here on GovLoop stirred up quite a hornets nest and attracted all sorts of attention. Many folks
offered their own horror stories while other provided excellent
suggestions (like stop using IT policy as HR policy) or provided links
to tools to help discuss social networking to our bosses.
I work in marketing and public relations. Arguably I have a need to
access these tools at work. I use Facebook, Twitter, and some other url
shorteners to conduct business. That isn't the case for most Federal
employees.
Simply ranting about my experience and shouting "I'm mad as hell!"
doesn't help change the situation. I recently finished reading the
Cluetrain Manifesto and believe many of these same points easily
translate to the Federal workforce. Steve Radick summed up a
similar Cluetrain type list last year and I have taken
his idea and expanded on it.
I believe Federal workers should have an Internet Bill of Rights. If we
are trusted with our nations secrets and money why can't we be trusted
on our nation's information superhighway?
So, here is my stab at it-
The Federal employees Internet Bill of Rights
What do you think?
offered their own horror stories while other provided excellent
suggestions (like stop using IT policy as HR policy) or provided links
to tools to help discuss social networking to our bosses.
I work in marketing and public relations. Arguably I have a need to
access these tools at work. I use Facebook, Twitter, and some other url
shorteners to conduct business. That isn't the case for most Federal
employees.
Simply ranting about my experience and shouting "I'm mad as hell!"
doesn't help change the situation. I recently finished reading the
Cluetrain Manifesto and believe many of these same points easily
translate to the Federal workforce. Steve Radick summed up a
similar Cluetrain type list last year and I have taken
his idea and expanded on it.
I believe Federal workers should have an Internet Bill of Rights. If we
are trusted with our nations secrets and money why can't we be trusted
on our nation's information superhighway?
So, here is my stab at it-
The Federal employees Internet Bill of Rights
- I am a responsible Federal employee and deserve to be treated as such.
- I work in a time when my co-workers, customers, and yes- my family and
friends, are using the internet to collaborate and communicate- even at
work. - I use social, and other web based tools, to share information with my co-workers, even if the tools seem trendy or have weird names.
- By becoming proficient with social networking tools I will become a more efficient productive employee during a time of critical need.
- The Federal government will provide ONE social media policy, scalable for various levels of security, that all agencies will adopt and follow.
- My agency will not punish the whole, for bad deeds of the few.
- I will learn how to use social networking tools responsibly and will incorporate them in my daily duties.
- I will not criticize my colleagues who do not understand these emerging tools but will help them learn how to use them.
- I will adhere to my Federal organizations public relations policy understanding that social media is a broadcast medium.
- I will hold myself to a higher standard when engaging in online activities, both on and off duty.
What do you think?
Comment
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Comment by Benjamin Strong on September 14, 2010 at 5:54am -
Whoops, both Dan Cain and Dan Munz! Great insight...
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Comment by Benjamin Strong on September 14, 2010 at 5:53am
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@Dan- thanks for the kind words!
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Comment by Dan L. Cain, Sr. on September 9, 2010 at 8:45am -
I feel that the Federal Employees Bill of Rights makes a great deal of sense particularly when we view the internet in both pro and con terms. As employees of the government(at any level and mine is local) we should hold ourselves to a higher standard and a greater degree of accountability.
Dan Cain, Sr.
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Comment by Shelley McNellis on September 8, 2010 at 3:13pm -
I'm waiting for the younger people to speak up here, because I can't really claim to be one of them any longer. However, I think "older people" who don't understand the technology are an equal, if not greater, risk. How many older people believe that if they limit access to their Facebook profile to only their friends, only their friends can see what they post? They think they've taken all the necessary steps to protect their privacy, but they don't really understand how the system works.
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Comment by Marco Morales on September 8, 2010 at 3:00pm -
I agree, Benjamin. With age and experience comes virtues like wisdom, patience and insight - none of which certain younger people seem to acquire with any amount of advice or packaged, digital environment sound bytes ... Notice I did say "certain younger people" so that no one gets offended.
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Comment by Benjamin Strong on September 8, 2010 at 1:27pm
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@Marco- EEFI issues are already be divulged by naive troops now. They are disclosing troop movements, changes in plans, what equipment is broken, etc on Facebook, blogs, and Twitter. Only a change in the culture "Loose lips sink ships" will bring about change, not blocking sites outright. Until OPSEC is more than collateral duty we may never bridge this gap. Young people today will Tweet or blog anything... it's their culture... getting back to a more secure thought process will take time and education, and it won't be accomplished by blocking sites.
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Comment by Tom Melancon on September 8, 2010 at 1:01pm -
I really like number five. It would be refreshing if the Federal Governmetn got out ahead of this trend adn established one comprehensible policy for all Federal Employees.
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Comment by Marco Morales on September 8, 2010 at 12:40pm
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With regard to setting the tone for our "rights" we all should closely focus on operational security and observe essential elements of friendly information or, EEFIs (questions likely to be asked by adversary and intelligence officials about specific friendly intentions, capabilities and activities so they can obtain answers critical to our operational effectiveness). Here, these EEFI's are offered as guidance: 1. what are we doing or planning to do?; 2. what is our readiness posture/situation?; 3. what are our limitations, constraints or vulnerabilities?; 4. what are our Force Protection capabilities or vulnerabilities?; and 5. what are our continuity of operation plans or procedures? Our enemies just need pieces of small puzzles to figure out our next strategic moves.
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Comment by Shelley McNellis on September 8, 2010 at 11:54am
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I like it, especially the focus on our individual responsibility to understand the tools and how to use them appropriately. I'm trying to figure out some eloquent wording for the concept making full, open access the default, and requiring a business case for *restricting* access. But I'm not feeling particularly eloquent this morning. :)
I would change John's addition (#11) slightly to say "I will be accountable..." (rather than I will be *held* accountable...).
I think IT security training is crucial but I'd sure like to see more thought given to the approach. We generally assume that employees know nothing and treat them as such. It's like signing up for a course on how to use SharePoint and being shown how to turn the computer on first, you know? I took a web-based information security course that showed you a cartoon picture of an employee at his workstation and asked you to identify all the security risks, one of which was the open drawer with documents marked "confidential" sticking out of it. Please. I realize that the varying levels of computer savvy-ness out there make it tricky to design training that's appropriate for everyone, but maybe we could at least assume a basic level of intelligence and common sense, so people don't walk away thinking "Boy, those IT people sure think we're stupid, don't they?"
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Comment by Darren on September 8, 2010 at 9:26am
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@Ben it's about presumption of ignorance. Everyone knows that you can't just walk a classified document out of a building but not everyone knows what steps are taken to walk that document out of a building. The same goes for web2.0, everyone knows how to be social but with out the proper training it can be ineffective an insecure.
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