That may be the case but with some organisations such as a Council, some
Sections/Departments allow personal use and some don't. Therefore, if
someone is investigated - a disciplinary hearing is then set up - employee
receives written warning as a result of disciplinary hearing. What happens
when another Section/Department decides not to take any further action after
investigation - to save any argument - it was the same type of mis-use of
e-mail.
Has the person who received a written warning a right to sue?
D


> -----Original Message-----
> From: Andrew Charlesworth [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: 20 February 2002 16:06
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: FW: email monitoring
>
> > If you allow personal use of e-mail and staff are informed to use>
> "Personal" in the subject line, you have no basis under 'Lawful Business
> > Practice' to open these e-mails.
> > You can however monitor traffic and if staff are sending large amounts
> of
> > personal e-mails you can tackle that issue.
> >
> > Nic Drew
> > DPO Cardiff & Vale NHS Trust
>
> This is an interesting interpretation of the Regulation of Investigatory
> Powers Act (RIP) 2000 and The Telecommunications (Lawful Business
> Practice)
> Interception of Communications) Regulations 2000, albeit one that appears
> to have no obvious basis in either document. The simple act of placing
> "Personal" in the subject line does not prevent an employer from
> intercepting and opening an e-mail, as the Regulations provide several
> justifications for just such an interception:
>
> - to prevent or detect crime,
>
> - to *investigate or detect unauthorised use of telecommunication
> systems*
> or,
>
> - to secure, or as an inherent part of, effective system operation;
>
> If you have an institutional e-mail acceptable use policy that permits
> personal use, but lays down criteria within which such personal use may
> take place e.g.
>
> Users may not use institutional resources and facilities, to transmit:
>
> - commercial material unrelated to the legitimate educational business of
> the institution, including the transmission of bulk e-mail advertising
> (spamming).
>
> - bulk non-commercial e-mail unrelated to the legitimate educational
> activities of the institution which is likely to cause offence or
> inconvenience to those receiving it. This includes the use of e-mail
> exploders (i.e. listservers) at the institution and elsewhere, where the
> e-mail sent is unrelated to the stated purpose for which the relevant
> e-mail exploder is to be used (spamming).
>
> - unsolicited e-mail messages requesting other users, at the institution
> or elsewhere, to continue forwarding such e-mail messages to others, where
> those e-mail messages have no educational or informational purpose (chain
> e-mails).
>
> - e-mails which purport to come from a individual other than the user
> actually sending the message, or with forged addresses (spoofing).
>
> - material that is sexist, racist, homophobic, xenophobic, pornographic,
> or similarly discriminatory and/or offensive.
>
> - material that advocates or condones, directly or indirectly, criminal
> activity, or which may otherwise damage the College's research, teaching,
> and commercial activities, in the UK or abroad.
>
> - text or images to which a third party holds an intellectual property
> right, without the express written permission of the rightholder.
>
> - material that is defamatory.
>
> - material that could be used in order to breach computer security, or to
> facilitate unauthorised entry into computer systems
>
> - material that is likely to prejudice or seriously impede the course of
> justice in UK criminal or civil proceedings.
>
> and you have reason to believe that a staff member is engaged in such
> activity, I can see no reason why the fact that they have placed
> "Personal"
> in their subject line would render their e-mail communications exempt from
> interception, if you have made it clear that they have no reasonable
> expectation of privacy in their personal communications sent via an
> institutional network.
>
>
>
> Andrew Charlesworth
> Senior Lecturer in IT Law
> Director, Information Law and Technology Unit
> University of Hull Law School
> Cottingham Road, Hull, HU6 7RX
> United Kingdom
> Voice: +44 1482 466387 Fax: +44 1482 466388
> E-Mail: [log in to unmask]
>
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