Corporate Ethics Code on Privacy at the University of Belize

Figure 1. Corporate Ethics

Both Employees and Students being enrolled are expected to hold a high standard of respect, integrity, and professionalism in and out of the workplace, since their actions are now a representation of the company.

All individuals who are employed within the company should maintain a high standard professional code of conduct.

All individuals who are employed within the institution are responsible, accountable, and liable for their actions.

Employee Privacy
Employee privacy rights are the rules that limit how extensively an employer can search an employee’s possessions or person; monitor their actions, speech, or correspondence; and know about their personal lives, especially but not exclusively in the workplace. The nature and extent of these protections have become a greater concern in recent years, especially with the rise of the internet and social media. (UpCounsel, 2021).

Privacy in education refers to the broad area of ideologies, practices, and legislation that involve the privacy rights of individuals in the education system. At the University of Belize, privacy in its educational system concerns the protection of student data (like educational records and other personal information) and the privacy of medical records. Email Privacy is the tracking of all the inflow and outflow of mails that are delivered from the workplace internally and outside source. Most employers require new employees to sign an email policy contract that stipulates that email is only to be used for business purposes and that the company reserves the right to monitor email usage. Such a contract effectively eliminates the reasonable expectation of privacy when it comes to electronic communications in a work environment.

This would increase the employer to implement a strong Information Technology system that is well equipped for the monitoring of all activities that are involved in the direct operations of the business processes. With the use of a desktop tracking software or with login time in system software to see if he/she is working or misappropriating company resources including theft or fraud.

The information technology resources at the University of Belize are to be used for the purpose of carrying out activities such as teaching, learning and research which support the university’s mission.

The purpose of its privacy policy on the use of Information technology resources is to ensure the appropriate use of university’s Information Technology facilities and services. The use of Information resources must be ethical, safe and consistent with the aims, values and objectives of the University.

Provision of Information technology resources to individuals is for supporting their studies (students), duties as employees, and for conducting business with the University. Individuals at the university are responsible to properly use and to protect their information resources such as IDs, passwords or other access codes to their personal accounts and to respect the rights of others. This policy provides guidelines to properly use information Technology facilities and services/resources.

Figure 2. Data Privacy and Fear Over Remote Work Security

At UB, employees are limited to the sharing of information, particularly if it involves confidential information about its customers. Only its employees and students hold an active email address, authorized credentials (moodle access, engrade, students email) given by the university; of which can be accessed on campus and online (externally). On campus, the university of Belize ensures that all students are abiding by its rules and regulations. The IT department blocks different websites from its customers (students) which includes any social media website, pornographic websites, personal email logins. This way, the corporation can monitor all activities that occur on their server or any logins that are issued by them.  

Companies can track Internet traffic connected to your device using network firewalls and router logs. The ITSD can search the network for prohibited content and pinpoint the source with the use of an IP address and pinned location. It is also possible to keep track of requests for websites or Internet data at predetermined intervals. Companies will track Internet traffic connected to your device using network firewalls and router logs.

Some Solutions to help assist with privacy include:

• Email encryption
• Anonymity tools
• Anti-spyware tools

Overall, technical solutions have failed to protect users from being tracked from one site to another.

• Browser features
• “Private” browsing.
• “Do not track” options

At the University of Belize, employees will always be notified where surveillance takes place, for example, cameras, email monitoring, website monitoring, etc. out of respect for privacy. Surveillance will only take place within the company limits and never into the private lives of the individuals employed at the company.

All individuals in the company will know and understand their rights and obligations of privacy as an individual in the workforce and abide by the laws/regulations and policies created by the government and company.

The University of Belize
The following principles apply to professional use of social media on behalf of the University of Belize as well as personal use of social media when referencing the university.  

• 

  Figure 3. Is Work Privacy Dead?

  Employees need to know and adhere to the University of Belize Code of Conduct, Employee Handbook, and other company policies when using social media in reference to the University of Belize.
• Employees should be aware of the effect their actions may have on their images, as well as the institution’s image. The information that employees post or publish may be public information for a long time. 
• Employees should be aware that the University of Belize may observe content and information made available by employees through social media. Employees should use their best judgment in posting material that is neither inappropriate nor harmful to its employees, or customers.
• Employees should get appropriate permission before  referring to or posting images of current or former employees, members, vendors or suppliers. Additionally, employees should get appropriate permission to use a third party's copyrights, copyrighted material, trademarks, service marks or other intellectual property.

Privacy of Customers and Users

Figure 4: Employee Privacy Rights at Work

The University of Belize main responsibility is to keep students' information confidential. Confidentiality is key and should be utilized throughout the university's processes. The university should take the time to carefully communicate with staff and students about the importance of protecting private data; you can minimize the threat of breaches and unauthorized access. Enforcing employee and student training, once the policies and privacy documentation are updated, it’s important to convey the data management changes to the staff/students on a regular basis. As the rules around data privacy evolve, the staff and students will need to be educated and trained on the current policies. It’s also very important to ensure that the privacy documentation is in compliance with the latest privacy laws.

Different ways to keep students' information secured are:

• Keeping security systems up to date
• Employees should sign confidentiality agreements
• Clearly communicate data policies - Institutions should clearly outline policies about data use and have a process in place that allows students to ask questions they may have about their data
• Use a VPN for university-related tasks - Because university-related information must be secure, use a Virtual Private Network (VPN) every time you log in to your university email, server, or website. This service keeps information private and secure
• Be sure employees understand copyright and other legal constraints
• Be clear about the boundaries of what they should and shouldn't do - stalk or otherwise harass another 

The reason for social media rules is to be a source of other risks, such as computer viruses that come via links on social media sites.

• Allowing access increases the risk of an employee infecting a work computer with a virus.
• Collect or store personal data about other users.
• Protect Information.
• Be Transparent and Disclose
• Follow the Law
• Follow the Code of Conduct

Employees who use social media as part of their job may accidentally post malicious or wrong content on your company's social media sites. They can also share discriminatory or political remarks on their accounts and potentially harm the respectable reputation that your company has.