How you can protect yourself when using the internet and how we
protect you.
If you are using a computer in a public place such as a library
or record office, you may not wish others to be able to
go back to view the details you have typed into a form on the
web. It is always advisable to clear the contents of the form
and your cache (temporary internet files) before leaving the
computer.
These links provide more hints and tips about protecting yourself
when using the internet:
Web filtering policy - using the internet in libraries and
record offices
Suffolk County Council (SCC) has a statutory responsibility to
provide people with a wide range of information and library
services. These services inspire personal growth, enable social
cohesion, promote economic performance and facilitate active
citizenship. To do this, SCC provides access to the widest possible
selection of books and information, conventional and
unconventional, restricted only by the law, the avoidance of harm
and the prudent use of public money.
Web filtering should not unnecessarily interfere with the
citizen’s right to exercise his or her intellectual freedoms and to
enjoy the diversity of resources a user engaged in formal or
informal study might wish to use. Decisions on blocking access to
websites should be made using the same professional judgements that
are used when selecting physical materials, and recognise the need
to reconcile the conflicting values of maintaining and defending
freedom of access to information, protecting others from harm, and
obtaining best value from the council’s investment.
SCC abides by the principle that the material should be ‘good of
its kind’; while the good of its kind test is relevant to web
filtering decisions, we recognise that the web contains a wide
variety of information that may not be good of its kind. We will
allow much of this information to be accessed in libraries and
record offices. We will point customers, through recommended links,
to those sites that, in our professional judgement, we think are
particularly good of their kind. SCC abides by the principle (a
principle argued by John Stuart Mill), ‘that the only purpose for
which power can rightfully be exercised over any member of a
civilised community, against his will, is to prevent harm to
others’. Even if not illegal, it is not considered appropriate use
of public funds to support access to certain material.
The following categories of internet content should not be
accessed on county council computers at any time:
- illegal material or activities
- pornography
- racism, hatred and intolerance
- security risks and computer misuse
- violence
We recognise that there is a difference in the needs of
teenagers (aged between 11 and 16 years) and children (aged up to
and including 11). Both groups are vulnerable, and should have
filtering which protects them from sites that may not be
appropriate or place them at risk. Teenagers will need greater
filtering than adults, but less filtering than children, as they
need to research topics, which are part of their citizenship and
curriculum learning.
More about how we protect children using the internet in
libraries.