At 5:55 pm +0000 on 20/03/00, Duncan S Smith <[log in to unmask]> wrote :
> Employee A has been given access to the internet from his/her desktop. Does
> the employer have the right to collect information regarding the sites/times
> employee A visits on the web, and the right to restrict access to certain
> sites, as with parental controls.?
>
> What (legal) risk is there to the employer regarding any material downloaded
> i.e. pornography, if no controls (software) are in place.
The safest response to this sort of query is to have in place a secure
employee conditions-of-access agreement. This means that before making use
of any company provided access, the employee must accept specific company
imposed rules and guidelines concerning Internet use. Rules may be either a
separate agreement to be signed when granting Internet access, or possibly
even a part of an employment contract. If felt appropriate, this agreement
can make clear that monitoring may/will take place, and that certain
material must not be accessed. For technical reasons total restriction of
access (through the use of 'Net Nanny' and its ilk) is not recommended;
better to treat employees as adults, while making clear their
responsibilities when using company computer systems.
Incidentally, I'd strongly advise against secret monitoring!
As for the legal risk of an employer should no controls be in place: if
there is no 'conditions of use' agreement, either, my undertanding is that
should pornography then be discovered on their systems, the employer could
well be in a sticky position legally...
- duncan
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Dr Duncan Langford Computing Laboratory, University of Kent at Canterbury UK
Practical Computer Ethics:McGrawHill Business Computer Ethics:AddisonWesley
'Internet Ethics' - MacMillan Press (UK) St Martins Press (USA) February, Y2K
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du
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