Accounts

Updated: June 8, 2023 e.v.

U.S Grand Lodge officers, local body officers, E.G.C. clergy, Chartered Initiators, and O.T.O. members working on projects or committees are given accounts in the U.S.G.L. Google Workspace. These are ordinary Google accounts in most respects, but they are associated with oto-usa.org rather than gmail.com.

Each individual has a primary account at oto-usa.org, which they use to log into the Workspace when needed. In addition, archiving groups are assigned based on the roles a particular individual fills in Grand Lodge. Local body positions are issued an impersonal account which is passed from person to person to maintain the position record.  

The default for primary account names is your civil name separated by a dot, e.g. "first.last". Members have the option, however, to use a title, magical name, and/or nickname in the Workspace if it more appropriate to their work, e.g. “sibling.magicalname” or “magical.name” or “first.middle.”  

Additionally, those with archiving groups for their positions can configure their account to send and receive email as that archiving group, where the primary name will usually not be prominently visible in email sent as a group.  However, it is in the email headers, and some mail programs will display it. For example, when sending an email as webmaster@oto-usa.org, some recipients see "From: webmaster@oto-usa.org (on behalf of catherine.berry@oto-usa.org)". 

If anyone is  concerned about their civil name being visible to any extent, they can use a different primary account name as explained above. Please include this chosen name on the enrollment form (available by request or through internal channels).

Usage and ownership

All U.S.G.L. accounts are provided solely for use in conducting the official business of U.S.G.L. and participation in its virtual mysteries. Resources created using such an account are owned by U.S.G.L. Any U.S.G.L. account may be suspended, deleted, or modified as required by the policies of U.S.G.L., without prior notification. 

If a member goes inactive or on bad report, all resource access will be terminated and their account closed. If a member goes on sabbatical their account will be suspended, but their access profiles will be maintained for their return, and access restored by communicating their return to the Internet Technology Committee with confirmation from the Grand Treasurer General.

Requesting accounts

Requests for U.S.G.L. accounts may come from the person needing the account, or from a U.S.G.L. officer with authority to request accounts for some specific purpose. For example, the President of the Electoral College may request accounts for newly seated Electors, the Grand Treasurer General may request accounts for their assistants, the local master can request an email for a new position on their volunteer staff, etc.

Before submitting a request for an account, the prospective new account holder should read (or be directed to read) the information in the previous section, with particular attention to the matters of account names and aliases.

When requesting an account, the U.S.G.L. Internet Technology Committee must understand the purpose of the request and be able to confirm that it is legitimate. The simplest way to do this is for the authorized requestor to submit a Technology Request Ticket. The requestor will receive a link to an enrollment form to complete with the information needed. Local masters or deputies should use the “Change of Officer Report Form” found in the Watering Hole Intranet for local officer changes and the “Panelist Report Form” for the appointment of a new Man of Earth Delegate Nominating Panel representative.

When a new account is created, an automatic email is sent to the provided personal email address that will provide instructions on accessing the new account and a temporary password. The temporary password expires after a short interval, so those receiving new accounts are asked to sign in and change their password as soon as possible.

Account security

Mobile devices

Devices which can access an oto-usa.org account must be secured against data exposure in the event of loss or theft. Most importantly, you must configure the device to auto-lock after a short period of inactivity. Any unlocking technique (password, PIN, pattern, fingerprint, facial recognition, etc.) is acceptable.

Two-step verification

This is required for all user accounts. You have one week to set up two-step verification after receiving your account. To set up 2-step verification, go here.

Password recovery

Set up recovery information or contact the Internet Technology Committee to request a reset.

Notes on email access

Web email access

There are two approved ways to use your oto-usa.org account to send and receive email on the web.

1. Log into the Google mail website using your oto-usa.org account. Send and receive email from there.

2. Set up a local email client (e.g., Outlook or Thunderbird) to send email through Google's servers via SMTP, and receive it via IMAP.

In the past, a third option was popular: Configuring your personal account to send and receive mail as your oto-usa.org account. That approach is no longer approved, as it leads to security issues. 

Mobile app email access

You may use an email app on your mobile device to access your oto-usa.org email. Most devices and apps allow you to create multiple account profiles and toggle between them, keeping your personal and oto-usa.org emails separate.