Policies

Greetings from Bible Institute of South Africa and welcome to our site! We extend the following information to assure you, our guest, that we are concerned about and respect your privacy while visiting our website. Bible Institute of South Africa will never sell, lease or rent your confidential information. We will always endeavour to take steps to assure that any information you provide to us will remain secure. We want you to feel safe in your online experience while visiting our site. We therefore request that you take a moment to review the following valuable information. Collection of Information Bible Institute of South Africa does not collect personal information without your knowledge during your visit to our website. However, Bible Institute of South Africa does at times ask that you provide us with personal information while online. The type of information we collect typically, but not always, corresponds directly with the service you request. For instance, you can make donations, when requested you can offer your thoughts, opinions, concerns, ideas, personal experiences, questions and/or suggestions to our resources, contests, or radio broadcasts, or you can request that a resource be sent to you directly from our Online Resource Centre. As a visitor, the personal information you provide may also be used to improve the usability of, and information available on, our sites. In other words, at times we will ask you for more information, beyond just your name and contact information, than is needed to facilitate our response to your specific request. Your provision of such additional information is your acknowledgement that you consent to our use of such information to better serve you, our visitor, and others coming to our website. Bible Institute of South Africa will not sell, lease or rent its mailing list or any of your confidential information to any outside organisation or individual. However, we may need to disclose personal information as required by law, such as a law, regulation, court order, subpoena, search warrant, in the course of a legal proceeding or in response to a law enforcement agency request, to enforce our Terms of Service, or site rules; or to protect the safety and security of our visitors and our sites. Security Our website’s ecommerce system uses SSL encryption to protect sensitive data transmissions from your computer to our website. You are able to see when the SSL encryption is active either by the “padlock” icon at the bottom of your browser’s window or by a blue line around the window. In certain areas, password protection is used to protect your privacy and security. Changes Bible Institute of South Africa reserves the right to make changes to this privacy policy at any time and requests that you review this policy for updates. Questions or Suggestions Please direct all questions or comments regarding this privacy policy to Bible Institute of South Africa [Address]. This website may provide links to external websites maintained by individuals or organisations external to Bible Institute of South Africa. Once you access information that links you to another website, you are subject to the privacy policy of the website containing the information you have linked to. The use of Cookies: A cookie is a small piece of data that a website can store on your system. Our website does not place cookies on your computer. Terms and Conditions of Use We have taken every effort to design our website to be useful, informative, helpful, honest and fun. Hopefully we’ve accomplished that — and would ask that you let us know if you’d like to see improvements or changes that would make it even easier for you to find the information you need and want. Bible Institute of South Africa exists to bring families closer to each other and to our Creator. Our website is based on a set of foundational Christian beliefs. All we ask is that you agree to abide by the following Terms and Conditions. Take a few minutes to look them over because by using our sites you automatically agree to them. We reserve the right to make any modifications that we deem necessary at any time. Please continue to check these terms to see what those changes may be! Your continued use of the Bible Institute of South Africa website means that you accept those changes. Restrictions on Use of Our Online Materials All materials contained in the Bible Institute of South Africa websites (“Online Material”) are the copyrighted property of Bible Institute of South Africa. Any trademark, service mark, and trade name are proprietary to Bible Institute of South Africa. No online material from our website may be copied, reproduced, republished, uploaded, posted, transmitted, or distributed in any way. [except that you may download one copy of the materials on any single computer for your personal, non-commercial home use only, provided that you 1) retain all copyright, trademark and propriety notices, 2) you make no modifications to the materials, 3) you do not use the materials in a manner that suggests an association with any of our products, services, events or brands, and 4) you do not download quantities of materials to a database, server, or personal computer for reuse for commercial purposes. You may not, however, copy, reproduce, republish, upload, post, transmit or distribute our Online Material in any way or for any other purpose unless you get our written permission first. Neither may you add, delete, distort or misrepresent any content on the Bible Institute of South Africa sites. Any attempt to modify any online material, or to defeat or circumvent our security features is prohibited. Submitting Your Online Material to Us All remarks, suggestions, ideas, graphics, comments, or other information that you send to Bible Institute of South Africa through our sites (other than information we promise to protect under our Privacy Policy), becomes and remains our property, even if this agreement is later terminated. That means that we don’t have to treat any such submission as confidential. You can’t sue us for using ideas you submit. If we use them, or anything like them, we don’t have to pay you or anyone else for them. We will have the exclusive ownership of all present and future rights to submissions of any kind. We can use them for any purpose we deem appropriate to our Bible Institute of South Africa mission, without compensating you or anyone else for them. You acknowledge that you are responsible for any submission you make. This means that you (and not we) have full responsibility for the message, including its legality, reliability, appropriateness, originality, and copyright. Donations Payment options accepted Payment may be made via Visa, MasterCard, Diners or American Express credit cards or by bank transfer into Bible Institute of South Africa bank account, the details of which will be provided on request. Credit card acquiring and security Credit card transactions will be acquired for Bible Institute of South Africa via PayFast. Payment may be made via Visa, MasterCard, Diners or American Express credit cards or by bank transfer. Users may go to https://www.payfast.co.za/compliance-documentationto view their security certificate and security policy. Customer details separate from card details Customer details will be stored by Bible Institute of South Africa separately from card details which are entered by the client the PayFast secure site. For more details on PayFast refer to https://www.payfast.co.za/ Merchant Outlet country and transaction currency The merchant outlet country at the time of presenting payment options to the cardholder is South Africa. Transaction currency is South African Rand (ZAR). Variation Bible Institute of South Africa may, in its sole discretion, change this agreement or any part thereof at any time without notice.

Image by Tim Mossholder

Scope of this Policy:

The Bible institute of South Africa (BISA) is a tertiary training and research centre for theological studies and recognises the need for internet accessibility for all staff and students. This Internet Usage Policy covers the provision, availability, security and use of all information via Internet, email and website traffic at the Bible Institute of South Africa. The term Internet Usage implies any streaming and downloads or uploads of visual and audio material including software, via all PCs, notebooks, netbooks, tablets, smartphones and storage devices, whether or not owned by the Bible institute of South Africa, using bandwidth supplied by BISA. Provision of internet facilities Internet access is available on campus to all faculty, non-teaching staff, students (full or part time) and BISA residents. Internet usage is not afforded to friends or family who are visiting the campus. ADSL service is used in the main campus building and redistributed via wireless network to the adjoining residences. Availability of Internet facilities Internet usage is available throughout the year, 24 hrs per day, subject to network coverage and availability from suppliers.

Fair usage policy:

The supplied internet facility is shared between all users. It is the responsibility of the individual user to respect other network users by keeping within the parameters of reasonable usage. Each student is issued a voucher that allows them to use the internet up to a pre-set value of gigabytes per month. Restrictions on internet facilities The Bible Institute of South Africa Internet usage is provided to facilitate activities related directly to the Bible Institute business, study & research. Personal use, subject to approval, should only be used on a limited scale for browsing and communication activities. In terms of this policy, when using Bible Institute facilities the following acts are prohibited in usage of the internet: The creation/viewing and downloading of non-work related data is prohibited during working hours. Limited non-working hour use will be allowed but must be approved by the Administrator. The creation, transmission or viewing of any offensive, obscene or indecent images, data or other materials, such as pornography and similar data; The creation or transmission or defamatory materials; The copying or transmission of data in violation of intellectual property rights of individuals or companies; Access to sites that contain illegal, racially or sexually harassing messages or discriminatory material; Access to any site that contains offensive material and which is contrary to public policy; Downloading of large files, which are not related to work, e.g. video, music, sermon files; The use of any shareware downloaded from the Internet without permission from the Administrator; The viewing of any Internet site, which is not directly related to the requirements of an employee’s job. Individuals may not: Allow another person to use their own user ID/token and/or password on any electronic device on campus; Leave their user accounts logged in at an unattended and unlocked computer; Use someone else’s user ID and/or password to access the Bible Institutes IT systems; Leave their password unprotected (for example writing it down, unsecured); Perform any unauthorised changes to the Bible Institutes IT systems or information; Attempt to access data that they are not authorised to use or access; Exceed the limits of their authorisation to interrogate the System and/or data; Connect a non-BISA-authorised device to any network or IT system; Store BISA data on any non- BISA-authorised device or storage system; Give or transfer BISA data and/or software to any person or organisation outside BISA without the authority of BISA. Line managers must ensure that individuals are given clear direction on the extent and limits of their authority with regard to IT systems and data. Internet and email Conditions of Use Use of BISA internet and email is intended for business use. Personal use is permitted where such use does not affect the individual’s business performance, is not detrimental to BISA in any way, not in breach of any term or condition of employment and does not place the individual or BISA in breach of statutory or other legal obligations. All individuals are accountable for their actions on the internet and email systems. Individuals must not: Use the internet or email for the purposes of harassment or abuse; Use profanity, obscenities, or derogatory remarks in communications; Access, download, send or receive any data (including images), which BISA considers offensive in any way, including sexually explicit, discriminatory, defamatory or libellous material; Use the internet or email to make personal gain and/or conduct a personal business; Use the internet or email for betting, gambling or gaming purposes; Use the email systems in a way that could affect its reliability or effectiveness, for example distributing chain letters or spam; Use the Internet or email to alter any information, or express any opinion about BISA, unless specifically authorised to do so; Make official commitments via the internet or email on behalf of BISA unless authorised to do so; Send, without authorisation, any unprotected sensitive or confidential information externally; Forward BISA mail to personal email accounts (for example Hotmail/ Gmail/ yahoo accounts); Download copyrighted material such as media (MP3/MP4/WAV etc.) files, film and video files and related products without appropriate approval; In any way infringe any copyright, database rights, trademarks or other intellectual property; Download any software from the internet without prior approval of the IT Department; Connect BISA devices to the internet using non-standard connections. Clear Desk and Clear Screen Policy In order to reduce the risk of unauthorised access or loss of information, BISA enforces a clear desk and screen policy as follows: Personal or confidential business information must be protected using security features provided; Computers must be logged off, locked or protected with a screen locking mechanism controlled by a password when unattended; Confidential or sensitive material may not be sent to unattended printers or photocopiers; All business-related printed matter must be disposed of using confidential waste bins or shredders. Working Off-site It is accepted that laptops and mobile devices will be taken off-site. The following controls must be applied: Any work done away from the office must be in line with BISA remote working policy; Equipment and media taken off-site must not be left unattended in public places and when left in a car, must be locked in the boot; Laptops must be carried as hand luggage when travelling; Information should be protected against loss or compromise when working remotely (for example at home or in public places) viz; Laptop encryption must be used; Particular care should be taken with the use of mobile devices such as laptops, mobile phones, smartphones and tablets. They must be protected by a locking device, password or PIN and, where possible, encryption. Mobile Storage Devices Mobile devices such as memory sticks, CDs, DVDs and removable hard drives must be used only in situations when network connectivity is unavailable or there is no other secure method of transferring data. Only BISA authorised mobile storage devices with encryption enabled must be used, when transferring sensitive or confidential data. Software Employees must use only BISA-authorised software on computers. Authorised software must be used in accordance with the software supplier’s licensing agreements. All software on BISA computers must be approved and installed by the BISA IT department. Individuals must not: Store downloaded personal files such as music, video, photographs or games on BISA electronic equipment. Viruses BISA has implemented centralised, automated virus detection and virus software updates. All PCs have antivirus software installed to detect and remove any virus automatically. Individuals must not: Remove or disable anti-virus software. Attempt to remove virus-infected files or clean up an infection, other than by the use of approved BISA anti-virus software and procedures. Actions upon Termination of Contract All BISA equipment and data, for example laptops and mobile devices including telephones, smartphones, USB memory devices and CDs/DVDs, must be returned to BISA at termination of contract. All BISA data or intellectual property developed or gained during the period of employment remains the property of BISA and must not be retained beyond termination or reused for any other purpose. Monitoring and Filtering All data that is created and stored on BISA computers is the property of BISA and there is no official provision for individual data privacy, however wherever possible BISA will avoid opening personal emails. IT system logging will take place where appropriate, and investigations will be commenced where reasonable suspicion exists of a breach of this or any other policy. BISA has the right (under certain conditions) to monitor activity on its systems, including internet and email use, in order to ensure systems security and effective operation, and to protect against misuse. Any monitoring will be carried out in accordance with audited, controlled internal processes, Viz, the SA Data Protection Act, the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 and the Telecommunications (Lawful Business Practice Interception of Communications) Regulations 2000. This policy must be read in conjunction with: Computer Misuse Act 1990 Data Protection Act 1998 It is the staff and students responsibility to report suspected breaches of security policy without delay to the BISA Principal and/or Administrator. All breaches of information security policies will be investigated. Where investigations reveal misconduct, disciplinary action may follow in line with BISA disciplinary procedures.

Image by Gerd Altman