Intro

Greetings, earthlings. We’re so glad you’re here and pretty sure you’re the best thing in the galaxy. We can’t wait to see how you unleash your brilliance at InterWorks and help us innovate, solve problems and answer tough questions, like, “Are robots sentient or nah?” In order for you to do your best work, we know you need the best tools, so we’re serious about outfitting our crew with the latest cutting-edge tech. However, we all know that with great power comes great responsibility, so we hope it goes without saying that security and privacy go hand in hand with the equipment we use. But we’ll say it anyway.

In this next section, we lay out some mission-critical details for our upcoming launch together. We’ll share our stance on lost and damaged equipment, computer usage, our privacy policy and a handy guide to all of our internal resources. We want you to live long, work hard and prosper, so buckle up for takeoff because we’re bound for the stars.

Computer Usage

Maintaining the reliability and security of our internal systems is paramount for our ability to serve clients well. Not to be a paranoid android, but it’s crucial that you exercise the highest degree of care in using and protecting your equipment, passwords and data. Our Support team helps make sure we are maintaining necessary standards for our equipment and networks. Please work with Support if you have any questions about proper usage, security or other issues. While most people here are highly capable with technical issues, it’s important to always check with Support for any hardware or software issue to ensure company-wide processes and records are being maintained. To reach out to our laser-focused Support team, email them at Support@interworks.com. You should have no expectation of privacy in using company computers or communication equipment. Sending, receiving or accessing racist or pornographic materials on InterWorks equipment or networks is strictly prohibited.

Cloud Services

For obvious reasons, we have to be very careful about the way we store and transmit client and internal files and data. With a team as spread out and collaborative as ours, cloud-based storage and sharing services can be very useful, but they also present a number of security risks. It is imperative that employees NOT open or use any other cloud services accounts for the storage, manipulation or exchange of company-related communications or company-owned data without the approval of our Support team. This is necessary to protect the integrity and confidentiality of our data, our clients’ data and the security of our corporate network. We want you to be able to serve your clients as efficiently as possible through the use of technology, and we’ve adopted the following procedures to ensure you have the functionality and access you need to be able to do just that.

• This policy applies to everyone at InterWorks, no exceptions.
• This policy pertains to all external cloud services, including cloud-based email and document storage.
• If you are not sure whether these procedures apply to a given service, please contact Support at Support@interworks.com.
• The use of all cloud services is subject to InterWorks’ existing Computer Usage and Privacy Policy.
• Access services only from approved devices.
• Local storage of data only on encrypted InterWorks hardware.
• No sharing passwords.
• Share files only with necessary parties.
• Check with Legal if data is subject to GDPR (DSGV), BDSG (Bundesdatenschutzgesetz), credit card data, etc. Legal may be reached at Legal@interworks.com.
• If you need to use any other cloud-computing services for work purposes, you must get approval from Support first to ensure that security, privacy and all other requirements will be adequately addressed by the cloud-computing vendor.
• For any cloud services that require users to agree to terms of service, such agreements must be reviewed and approved by Legal.
• Please make sure your passwords for other cloud services meet the same complexity standards for other InterWorks accounts. NEVER use your personal cloud services accounts for the storage, manipulation or sharing of company or client-related communications or company-owned data. You should also never share your password across services – personal, business or otherwise – as that is the leading cause of data breaches.

Equipment & Devices

We’re committed to making sure you have the necessary equipment available to you to do your job here at InterWorks. Please treat the equipment you’re issued with care (like it has feelings, you know), and follow the operating instructions, maintenance requirements and safety guidelines. We understand that sometimes accidents happen and equipment is damaged, lost or stolen. Here’s how we handle those unfortunate situations:

Damaged Equipment

• Cracked screens: For your IW phone, please expense the repair but only the first time. If you crack it again, it will be up to you to pay for. If you have trouble keeping phones in one piece, please invest in an appropriate case. Or an astromech droid.
• Other damage to equipment: We have an “Elektronikversicherung” (= electronics insurance) with a deductible of 150 €. It also applies to theft. Therefore, please also report the damage to Support and the Office Management of the GmbH. We will contact the insurance company to get the claim settled. 

Lost or Stolen Equipment
You should always notify Support IMMEDIATELY if your phone, laptop or any other equipment is lost or stolen, no matter what. We need to take action to protect any data that may be compromised in these situations. Our team will set to work on your challenge at the speed of light, but there are some things we need from you in these cases:

• If you lose your equipment, it’s only fair that you cover the costs of replacement.
• If your equipment is stolen because you did not take reasonable steps to keep it secure, you will also be asked to cover the costs of replacement. This would include leaving a laptop on a table at a coffee shop, on the front seat of your car or under the watch of a friendly stranger at your favorite intergalactic cantina. Please make sure your equipment is safe and secure at all times.
• If your equipment has been properly secured but is still stolen, the electronic insurance will cover the theft, minus the deductible of 150 €. In this circumstance, you will need to report the theft to the appropriate authorities and make sure we get a copy of the police report. Please send the documents to Support and the Office Management of the GmbH. Because sometimes there’s no way you can guard against the malfeasance of outlaws, extraterrestrial or otherwise.
• In any event, we’ll make sure you’re able to continue your work right away, and we’ll figure out the details as appropriate at a later time.

Stickers
You stick ‘em, you remove ‘em. If you want to express yourself creatively using stickers on your laptop or other equipment, you do you! If you want your laptop to shine like a supernova, we get it. However, please know that you will be expected to remove those stickers appropriately when it is time for an upgrade or a change in equipment. You’re also welcome to go for a quick jaunt of time travel to remove them. Either way works for us.

Incident Reporting or Suspicious Activity

If any other technical and security concern arises for any reason, immediately notify the Support and Security Operations teams for assistance, even if it’s only suspicion. To help avoid these incidents, you can take the following precautions:

• Secure your workspace by locking your computer when not present, and put away documents.
• Use proper licencing, e.g. don’t use software illegally either via bypassing or breaching licencing/ToS agreements.
• Do not share individual accounts (this includes passwords, as mentioned above, but this also includes shared account usage in general)