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Pantheon Use Policy
This policy applies to Minerva, Mercury, Morpheus, and Mars collectively referred to as the Pantheon, as well as any future systems having the same role. In the context of this document, "Pantheon" should be interpreted as any or all of these computers.
The Pantheon is a multiuser system that thousands of people have access to. Thus, certain rules are necessary in order to make sure that it remains secure and usable by everyone. These policies are in addition to all other ITS, Yale, and governmental policies and laws (eg. the copyright law must be observed by all users). See the ITS General Policy Statements for more information.
Privacy
Dozens of people can use the Pantheon at one time. This inevitably leads to some loss of privacy. For example, other users can easily find out your name, your email address, when you have used the a Pantheon machine, and what you are doing on a Pantheon machine right now. Information such as your real address and phone number may also be obtained over the network.
However, Unix (the operating system that the Pantheon uses) has mechanisms built in to make sure that only you can access your data files (including mail files). It is possible for you to override these settings, but before you do so, make sure that you fully understand what you are doing.
Security
The following is NOT allowed:
- Using the system without authorization
- Concealing your identity (eg. by sending forged email)
- Sharing your password or account
- Using an account that is not yours
- Attempting to "crack" or guess other people's passwords
- Obtaining passwords by other means (eg. password capture programs)
- Attempting to thwart system security
Resource Hogging
Since so many people use the Pantheon, it is important that no one person hog the resources needed by everyone. For example, all users have a disk quota that limits how much they can store on the Pantheon.
To ensure that system remains usable for everyone, the following are examples of things that are not allowed:
- Mass mailings (ie. sending a large volume of unsolicited email)
- Chain mail propagation
- Storing large amounts of data in public temporary directories
- Running long or computationally intensive jobs without permission
- SLIP or similar emulators NOTE: Mathematical and scientific computation should only be done on designated machines
- Writing or knowingly spreading viruses and worms
- Running "daemon" like processes that never terminate
- Running WWW or other Internet servers
- Running IRC 'bots
- Anything else that could significantly reduce system performance
Enforcement and Due Process
Normally, ITS staff are forbidden to "browse" user files. However, in the case of a suspected rules violation, or in cooperation with law enforcement officials, the Director of Academic Media & Technology may approve searching an account or even logging all of a user's key strokes during a Pantheon session. Whenever possible, at least two qualified ITS employees will be present during such searches. In emergency cases where system integrity is threatened and it is not possible to obtain the approval of the Director, certain other ITS staff members have the authority to lock or search accounts or log sessions.
A person accused of a rules violation will be notified of the charge, and have an opportunity to respond before a penalty is determined. The Director of Academic Media & Technology must approve the penalty. In some cases, the University may also take further disciplinary or legal action.
If you have any questions about these rules, please contact consult@pantheon.yale.edu.
