SPECIAL TOPICS - Email and other Electronic Data


SPECIAL TOPICS - Email and other Electronic Data
	E-Mail and other Electronic Data
	"SPAM" considerations in sending E-Mail Messages
	"SPAM" filtering services at Penn
	Accessing others' E-Mail accounts and other documents

	"SPAM” considerations in sending E-mail Communications
	E-mail communications has evolved into a critical communication method for doing business in literally every industry, including higher education. Certain types of e-mail communications have raised questions about privacy and system performance particularly those that are commercial in nature. Recently, Congress enacted federal legislation (CAN SPAM) to address these concerns. Penn has developed Standards that must be applied when sending e-mail messages that are primarily commercial in nature. It is also appropriate to consider applying the Standards in other situations that a recipient might wish to control, such as messages sent frequently and/or messages that are discretionary. See E-Mail Communications Standards: Guidance on Complying with Federal CAN SPAM Law.
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	SPAM filtering services at Penn
	Unsolicited commercial e-mail, commonly referred to as “spam,” has risen exponentially in recent years and now accounts for 40-65% of all e-mail traffic. Spam is a problem for anyone with an email account.

	Spam messages can be quite annoying or offensive. They can include attachments and URLs that, if clicked on, can install viruses or worms on your computer. Also, spam uses up your e-mail quota and the amount of spam may overwhelm legitimate email, making legitimate e-mail harder to locate.

	At Penn, each School’s mail server offers a spam filter but these filters differ in how they are used and managed and how they are configured.
	Users with accounts on the following e-mail servers can apply spam filtering: pobox.upenn.edu; mail.med.upenn.edu; design.upenn.edu; dolphin.upenn.edu; ben.dev.upenn.edu; dental.upenn.edu; admissions.upenn.edu, design.upenn.edu. Visit http://www.upenn.edu/computing/email/spam-filtering.html.
	Users with accounts on mail.sas can find spam filtering information at http://www.sas.upenn.edu/computing/help/Email/antispam.html
	Users from the School of Nursing can find spam filtering information at http://www.nursing.upenn.edu/otis/helpdesk/how-to/spam.asp
	Users from the School of Engineering can find spam filtering information at http://www.seas.upenn.edu/cets/answers/spamblock.html
	Users from the Wharton School can find spam filtering information at http://spike.wharton.upenn.edu/consult/email/spamfilter.cfm
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	Accessing others' e-mail accounts and other documents
	Penn policy offers privacy protection for e-mail messages, documents on desktops and other electronic data. Our policy provides that this data is confidential and that it may only be accessed in specifically listed situations and only with proper approval. For more information, see Policy on Privacy in the Electronic Environment.
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Privacy Statement