Agreement to an acceptable use policy

The agreement section is where a person acknowledges that they have read the acceptable use policy and agree to follow it. Until someone agrees, the AUP is only a document sitting on a shelf; it does not show that anyone has accepted the rules.

How agreement is shown

On a paper AUP, the person signs their name. On a digital version, they tick or click a box, for example when they first log on or when they open the policy in an online staff handbook. A digital version is quicker to collect and easier to store and check, but a tick box is still a valid way of acknowledging the policy.

The date of agreement is recorded, so the organisation knows when the person agreed and which version of the policy was current at that time. When the policy is updated, staff must agree to the new version, and the date shows who has already done so and who still needs to.

A paper AUP is often countersigned by a more senior person, such as a line manager. The countersignature verifies that the signature is genuine and shows that a named senior person has seen the document, so the member of staff cannot later claim they never signed it.

Why agreement matters

Agreement is what makes the policy enforceable. Because the member of staff has agreed, and the date is recorded, they cannot say they did not know the rules, so the sanctions section can be used. For the organisation, the signed or ticked agreement is evidence that staff were told what was expected of them. For example, a catering company updates its AUP on its staff intranet; when you log on, a box asks you to agree, and the system records the date and version beside your name.