Commentary: Notice and Consent: Policy dictates monitoring of government-provided systems

  • Published
  • By 48th Fighter Wing Cyber Surety Office
ROYAL AIR FORCE LAKENHEATH, England --  Just in case you didn't know; Uncle Sam monitors you while you use government-provided information technology systems.

Federal law governing notice-and-consent decrees that you must be informed that the government may listen in on your communications, and, whenever you use an unsecured government-provided telecommunications system on this base, you are giving implicit consent to be monitored.

This policy is spelled out at length in Air Force Instruction 10-712 and "prescribes responsibilities, procedures, and guidance for the Telecommunications Monitoring and Assessment Program."

"In today's age of social networking users, of government computing devices and networks must be informed they are being monitored," said Staff Sgt. Jessica Ayure, 48th Communications Squadron cyber surety technician. "This is not only to ensure the Air Force's interests are protected but those of the individual as well."

The Air Force employs telecommunications systems such as telephones, cellular phones, radios, facsimile, pagers and computer networks. Internet-based capabilities such as blogs, websites, social networking sites, and other wired or wireless electronic devices accessed through federally-provided resources, also fall under AFI 10-712.

Adversaries can easily monitor these systems to gather information regarding military capabilities, limitations, intentions and activities. As a result, TMAP provides commanders with an assessment as to the type and amount of information at risk to adversary collection and exploitation. TMAP is intended to limit unauthorized and unwanted access to vital information.

Accordingly, the instruction provides that all authorized users of telecommunications systems and devices, must receive legally sufficient notice that monitoring is conducted and that use of the system or device constitutes consent to monitoring.

Notification is also provided by DD Form 2056 red stickers on base telephones. These labels state, "Do not discuss classified information," as well as, "This telephone is subject to monitoring at all times. Use of this telephone constitutes consent to monitoring."

Similarly, a declaration must be included on military fax cover sheets that warns, "Do not transmit classified information over unsecured telecommunications systems. Official Department of Defense telecommunications systems are subject to monitoring, and use of DOD telecommunications systems constitutes consent to monitoring."

The TMAP monitors are forbidden from retaining any proprietary, personally identifiable information or personal privacy information that is extraneous to the TMAP assessment. As a general rule, such information is to be promptly destroyed.

Air Force Manual 33-282 mandates that all authorized information system users sign the standardized AF Form 4394, AF User Agreement Statement-Notice and Consent Provision, prior to initial access. This is where notice and consent comes in. As just one example, whenever you log onto a computer, you are presented with the AF notice and consent banner, which you must acknowledge by clicking "continue."

We want people at Royal Air Force Lakenheath to know that they may be monitored, and that use of telecommunications equipment constitutes consent to be monitored. These actions are taken to help ensure the integrity of our mission-critical information and keep prying eyes from gaining information they don't have the need to know.

For more information about what is monitored and collected, contact the 48th FW Cyber Surety Office at DSN 226-2099.