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Wednesday, 10 May, 2000, 14:38 GMT 15:38 UK
Should your e-mails be screened at work?
![]() UK employers are keeping a close eye on staff e-mails in an effort to trap those using sexist or racist language.
Automatic scanning equipment is being used to seek out potentially offensive words that set off an internal alarm, and the managers are then alerted. The action is responding to a change in law that could see employees claiming up to £50,000 for receiving offensive e-mails at work. Do you think these "e-mail spies" are a good idea, or do you consider it a personal infringement? Have you been the victim of a malicious e-mailer at work? Send us your views and experiences. Your reaction
With that said, the e-mail within the company's system theoretically is their property, and virtually all companies have guidelines prohibiting personal abuse (although this is policed to varying degrees). If something is so sensitive an employer cannot read it, then it is not company business and should be taken out of that loop. Peter, UK Your work e-mails belong to the company, and are not your private property. They own the computers and servers, and pay the electric. Get your own computer if you want privacy.
If e-mails are being sent from the workplace then yes employers have a right to monitor what is being sent, however they cannot and should not be allowed to spy on their employees e-mail at home or in their private time! This would be a complete intrusion of privacy!
Tony, London People are confusing work email for home email. If the address being used belongs to your employer, you waive all right to privacy when you use it.
However, the employer should have in place an Acceptable Use Policy, which states the conditions of use of web/ email/ internet use.
Of course employers don't read letters that are sent to your home - it's stupid to draw such a comparison. Closer, but not an exact comparison would be letters to you at work. Many offices have a Post Room that opens any inbound letters. Imagine trying to keep your job if that porn magazine you ordered gets delivered to work.
P Burchell, UK Personally I have an e-mail address and my employer doesn't look into my messages because we are a small company. But if I were in that case I couldn't accept it because it's my freedom. I agree with Patrick when he says that it's as if my boss open the letters that I receive at home.
Of course a company should screen
its employees' email, but there's
no way to check it. As an example,
I can send message via hotmail, or via
my mobile phone. Can the company
check my mobile phone?
What a great idea! Everyone deserves to be free from prejudice and bigotry, what better way of doing so than making the spreading of offensive materials "socially unacceptable." We have the right to be protected by censorship. What has been learned cannot be unlearned. This is not Big brother, it is protection.
Patrick O'Sullivan, Taiwan Most emails are screened at work. I have no hang-ups about it. If I want to send private stuff I use hotmail or something like that. They can monitor that if they like. I have nothing to hide.
I do think that email scans should be carried out with extreme discretion which I am also sure isn't always the case. For example if a friend sends you a picture of a naked woman at work that is hardly your fault but I know some companies would hold that against you. Mike, UK Most people who have access to
e-mail are office staff which implies a degree of trust and therefore I do not agree that employers should screen their employees e-mails this only serves to generate mistrust, and if they are not having their own e-mails screened then this smacks of double standards.
Dave Adams, USA There are people out there who put anonymous and negative "insider" information on their employer out on public message boards. If I were an employer, I'd like to know who these people are so that I could fire 'em!
How can you breach fundamental human rights?
An e-mail is a totally private matter. Whether it is
work place or home, opening private letters and mails is
in human. If it is so, what shall we teach our kids? What good manners
they can learn from this spoilt society?
Dave Johnston, USA
Outrageous! Will they be planting bugs in the office next, to catch those who swear or make racist comments? It seems big brother has now arrived - big time!
Ian Bennett, Zimbabwe It's undoubtedly an infringement on your privacy, but snooping on your personal communications is sadly a part of everyday life these days. All e-mails travelling through the US are already scanned by the NASA, and all international phone calls monitored by GCHQ as part of the Echelon system. The trend towards office email monitoring comes more from a desire to prevent damaging litigation, as companies in the UK can be sued if they allow offensive content on their networks. The way around it is simply to encrypt your messages, a method that is both free and widely available.
On your own time you should be able to surf and write email in your own account (Yahoo, Go To, FT Network etc.) It's easy to find out who is abusing the rules, just look at the time. It should well documented in company S.O.P. it you look at porn on the company computers you are out the gate, no ifs or buts about it!
David, England I use hotmail but as long as I get to screen emails of the people who are allowed to screen my emails then I'm for screening emails at work. I've been a victim of degrading remarks through email. But unlike an eye to eye verbal assault, it's much easier to defend oneself through email by analysing the message very slowly with a few people at your side.
Kris Dye, UK
I'm just moving to a new job. In the terms and conditions, the employer clearly states that I have no right to expect privacy in my email or web browsing.
So it's clear and open - and entirely fair. If I want to send or receive stuff that's inappropriate for work, that's what home email accounts are for
I would certainly agree after what's just happened at my firm. We have just been hit by the "I love you" virus and had to shut down our exchange server. I understand that it has hit firms all over London. If regular screening of emails was present this may have been avoided.
It's incredibly small-minded to spend time and money monitoring people's emails and web usage at work. People should be positively and actively encouraged to use the 'net for email and surfing. If you don't you are simply restricting your employee's growth. Taking the view people are simply in an office to work is blinkered and reduces what they can offer to their workplace.
Most people seem to have missed the point. Employers are simply acting on legislation which states that they (the employers) may be liable to pay compensation to any person/ company who receive offensive, libellous or malicious email from one of their employees. I think that if I was in the same situation, I would take every step to ensure that my employees didn't put me in this position - wouldn't you?
James Taylor, Nottingham, UK
If you treat people like children for long enough then eventually many of them will become just that!
Don't worry about your company monitoring your emails because your government is going to do it for them.
Knowledge is power. I guess restricting people's ability to communicate is the best way to retain power. Keep 'em ignorant eh? Be silent, consume, die.
This debate is academic.
When 3rd generation mobile phones take off and everyone can received personal emails on his/her phone then who cares what employers
do?
Nick, UK
In India people don't have enough to eat, and in China they get shot for saying the wrong thing, but the spoilt brats on this page are whining about not having the freedom to abuse someone else's email system! What deprivation!
It's not the email text that is so much the bad thing, it's the silly attachments. Any number of things get onto a system and cause disruption and when you work in IT that's the last thing you want. Spending an extra four hours in work because someone was sent a pornographic mpeg that crashed the mail server isn't productive in any way.
Mark Deamer, UK E-mail should not be read without permission. If a company has recorded that a staff member is sending a high volume of e-mail and suspects that that user is mis-using company resources then it should alert that user to the fact that this has not gone unnoticed. If the company wishes to view the contents of a staff member's e-mail, it should ensure that the staff member is present at the viewing.
As an IT professional, the monitoring of emails would be deemed essential in today's world of corporate espionage and litigation's. Not only could your employees be sending insulting emails the amount of junk mail is on the increase.
If you really want to keep your emails personal then I suggest people use PGP encryption to keep out prying eyes...
The medium through which people choose to express their socially unacceptable views is irrelevant. At least email is (supposed to be) personal. I could post any amount of offensive nonsense on my website, then register it with a search engine with the words "Brittany Spears" and get several million people to read it. Why get so tense of the fact that I might swear in an email to my mate, or that my Aussie mate sends me a dodgy joke? Get a grip! Maz, UK No of course they should not. If there really is a legal problem here, then the law should be changed. However I find it hard to believe that such a problem really exists: Has BT ever been sued for allowing obscene phone calls over its network?
Phil Saum, UK
Where will it end? Personal emails at work are often a short break from the tedium. Looking out the window or sitting doodling are examples that fall into the non-productive category but nobody actually works continuously all day. Sexism and racism are being taken to crazy extremes. Will it be politically wrong in the future to call someone big nose or baldy?
It is both bad and straight ridiculous idea. It is like giving the whole hand of freedom of expression to devil in one go. Internet and internet communication has to remain a bastion of freedom of any expression. The companies have internal rules how to control business correspondence and that is enough.
Screening of e-mails is a ridiculous thing to do, and as for the argument that you shouldn't be using e-mail for personal business - that is nonsense.
Companies would not dream of telling staff they could never make a personal phone call, and they certainly would not dare to suggest that personal phone calls would be listened in to. Any such idea would soon be quashed once the first court case for intrusion of privacy was won by an employee.
Michael J Sullivan, Canada
It's not like companies are doing this behind closed doors: they're open about their policies. If you have a problem with it, don't use their system for personal email. Besides, with services such as Yahoo Mail or BT's Talk21 there really is no need to have any personal stuff come to work. Abuse of the email system has always been a sackable offence everywhere I've worked. However, I've had responsible employers and they have been happy for us to send each other jokes and arrange personal meetings (lunch, etc).
I agree with Stuart from London. Human beings are not utensils, here solely for the purpose of making money. Your employer does not own you, they pay you for a stake in your time. That's it. If you wish to e-mail a friend at lunchtime, why is that a problem? Even if you send e-mail during work hours, there shouldn't be a problem as long as the work gets done, and in most cases it does. All this paranoia about racist e-mails, sexist e-mails, isn't it all a little bit pathetic? How far do we want this to go, I mean, how long will it be before employers are dictating how long you should spend in the toilet? I often have to work extra hours without over-time and little thanks, so I think the company can spare a couple of minutes and a small fraction of bandwidth for me to e-mail a friend or check my on-line bank statement.
According to an article in the Computer Weekly magazine, under current UK law, any monitoring of e-mails without the employee being informed, IN WRITING, is an offence under the Data Protection Act. It is NOT sufficient for the company to put in a corporate handbook that e-mails may be monitored, each employee has to be notified personally in writing, and acknowledge receipt of this warning. The only exception to this is where a criminal investigation is being carried out on the employee which may lead to legal proceedings. Having said that, it is for the employee to determine whether their use of the facility is reasonable, and to act as their own censor.
JS, UK
Emails should be scanned at work. The system, the equipment and your time is the property of the employer. They should have the right to protect their investment. If you had a contractor in your house wouldn't you get a little angry if they started to raid your fridge and watch your TV when they should be fixing your roof? However, I do believe that the employer should approach the employee and give them the benefit of the doubt. Allow them to explain if this was an accident, family emergency or unsolicited.
If you want privacy on email get a home account!
My employer promotes free internet use and doesn't scan e-mails. I do think people are old enough and wise enough to make there own decisions on what they send and read. If you find something offensive or someone is sending stuff to you that you don't want, then block the user or just delete it. Who monitors the IT guys? No one. If you are worried that you might be scanned create a web based e-mail account like hotmail.
Honesty and modesty should always rule at work (and in our private lives). If you have nothing to hide you have nothing to fear.
Andy, Switzerland
My personal opinion on this subject is that using 'scanning' software to look for sexist, offensive or racist language is not the right thing to do. First of all it is invading of privacy, although you are supposed to use E-mail for business purposes. We all know how many personal E-mails you get once your mail address is known. If all companies start doing this the 'Big Brother is watching you' syndrome will appear again and will result in a mass scare. Everybody will be afraid he/she may say something which might be interpreted as sexist, offensive or racist even when it is just meant as a joke between friends.
I think email should be screened. People often receive virus and porn which they are not aware of. The virus can spread like wildfire and some people do not enjoy receiving offensive mail! Yes I think its acceptable as PERSONAL MAIL should remain just that and should be sent to a different account. The exchange servers are maintained on company expense and should not be abused!
Duncan Lambe, Spain If you receive mail in an envelope at work, the employer has no right to look at it. This should be the same with electronic mail, especially when received from outside of the workplace. If an employee receives a malicious message from a fellow employee they should report it and appropriate action should be taken.
I find it hard to see that an email could be deemed so distressing it would warrant a £50,000 pay out. I also find it disturbing that my privacy is being compromised by the need to enforce yet another crackpot notion dreamed up by the wet, the inadequate and the money-grabbing.
Suzey, UK I think that any monitoring of emails should be illegal just as it should be illegal to monitor phone calls and ordinary mail. Even the police monitoring of the above is an infringement of privacy. We are slowly but surely moving towards a system of Big Brother watching over you. The only two cases where this is not the case is when preventing racism and when protecting children.
If you want to make emails with a private and personal content then you should do so at your own risk or in your own home. If you do choose to use emails at work, they should be for work. The firm should have every right to monitor and control employees emails in any way that they see fit.
Scanning emails would be the thin edge of a sizeable wedge. If someone is receiving offensive emails then the same system should be used that deals with, say, so-called poison-pen letters. To start monitoring emails smacks of big-brother at is most sinister.
Stuart, London, UK
On the grounds of strong suspicions companies should reserve their right
to screen employee mail and use their discretion. Prior to doing this they should
advise employee of their action and their reasons for so doing. I have based this on the cautious grounds "nothing to hide, nothing to fear"
Prior notification is a must
I can't answer this as all outgoing emails from work are read!
An email service provided by an employer is for business purposes. If you are using for personal reasons then you have no excuse to complain about 'snooping' by authorised personnel on the content of messages in the system.
If you want to have a personal email system that you can access at work then use one of the freely available webmail systems such as Hotmail. You should also restrict your access to your lunch hour or other non-business hours.
If you are using your employer's email facility then you have a responsibility to use it correctly. Anything that makes people think twice before sending out mail must be good. Most employers accept a certain amount of private use, but abuse could well lead to that facility being withdrawn to the detriment of the majority.
In any case I get enough rubbish via email without receiving offensive rubbish as well.
I think that "joke" emails are a great way to relax at work. People are taking things over the top and we aren't even allowed to "have a laugh" anymore - ridiculous
Michelle, UK
I for one would not take time at work to write a personal letter to a boyfriend or anyone, so why should employers put up with time wasters that the rest of us have to carry? (I'm on lunch at the moment so I'm OK!) anyone not brave enough to say something publicly should consider whether to say it at all, or use a web based e-mail. Ste Hick, UK Don't trust anything at work - even if there is a policy that won't allow people to read your emails, the technology is still there. Open up a freemail account as a workaround.
As a company firewall administrator, I would also advise only surfing for business at work. Get internet access in at home if you want to go somewhere considered by your employer to be non-business.
It's not worth the risk, especially if your company is highly political and there's people who want to see you burn....
No, Companies don't monitor faxes and other hard copy correspondence.
The reality of the situation is that those targeted by this pathetic snooping won't be higher management, despite the fact that in my experience the higher up the ladder of authority you go, the more unpleasant and fascistic the views.
If you want to make e-mails with a private and personal content then you should do so at your own risk or in your own home. If you do choose to use E-mails at work, they should be for work. The firm should have every right to monitor and control employees E-mails in any way that they see fit.
John Glasgow An email service provided by an employer is for business purposes. If you are using for personal reasons then you have no excuse to complain about 'snooping' by authorised personnel on the content of messages in the system.
Sexism and racism are loathsome, but this is another over-reaction from our nanny-society in which the majority being spied upon to "protect" a minority from a minority.
Anything that has is analysed by a piece of machinery is subject to making wrong (and costly) decisions. Offensive e-mails should be monitored, but not at the expense of innocent parties, who may simply be "bystanders".
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