Prohibited Technologies Plan
The Texas A&M University System’s Prohibited Technologies Plan
On December 7, 2022, Governor Greg Abbott required all state agencies to ban the video sharing application TikTok from all state-owned devices and networks over the Chinese Communist Party’s ability to use the application for surveilling Texans. Governor Abbott also directed the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) and the Texas Department of Information Resources (DIR) to develop a plan providing state agencies guidance on managing personal devices used to conduct state business.
The guidance issued by DPS and DIR requires The Texas A&M University System (“system”) to remove prohibited technologies which are on the DIR prohibited technology list from state-owned devices and block access to prohibited technologies from state-owned networks.
This plan is adopted under the authority of System Policy 29.01, Information Resources, and applies to all system employees, contractors and users of system member networks. All system employees, contractors and users are responsible for complying with this plan. In this plan, “prohibit” is to not allow by policy and “prevent” is to have a technical control in place unless the agency head grants an exception.
Texas Department of Information Resources Prohibited Technologies Guidance