Confidentiality of User Files and Communications
In Case of Death or Serious Disability
As a courtesy to preserve the confidentiality and dignity of our users, in the case of death or a permanent disability that prevents an account holder from determining these issues himself or herself, here is how the Department of Information Technologies will deal with materials present in our systems that were previously available only to the individual account holder:
- We will immediately disable the accounts when we are informed of the death or disability (it is permissible to change a password on e-mail and send a bounce message that tells correspondents whatever the department wishes to be communicated (i.e., "This account is no longer accepting e-mail -- you may contact [name, department, e-mail address] for further information")).
- We will archive the materials to CD or other appropriate media when it is no longer appropriate or practical to keep them on servers, and securely store them for a minimum of one year.
- All personal materials will only be released per instruction of the executor of the estate (for a death) or the person recognized by courts of law as legally representing the account holder (in cases of serious disability as described above).
- If there is an institutional need for access to business/departmental materials, they will be made available separate from any personal materials upon review of all of the materials by the executor or legal representative, assisted by IT staff, or by an independent confidential reviewer selected by the VP for Information Resources/CIO if the executor or legal representative is not available or elects not to perform this duty.
All of this is done in the context of the University's policies related to privacy and confidentiality of on-line files and communications (see http://www.umw.edu/policies/web/monitoring_employee_electr/).