Emma Bothamley on Wednesday, July 13, 2005 at 3:29 PM said:-
> In the Supplementary Guidance it states,
> "Information about workers who are not the target of the investigation
> should be deleted as soon as practicable. The type of activities that
> an employer could not reasonably be expected to ignore might include
> criminal activity, gross misconduct or practices that jeopardise the
> safety of others".
>
> My question is, what if information about workers who are not the
> target of
> the investigation reveals that they are also involved in some equally
> devious but separate criminal activity. Should we delete that information
> and pretend we didn't see it or could we legitimately use the information
> if it revealed something seriously underhand was occurring?
>
> My view is that if the information does reveal something seriously
> underhand, I feel we should be able to act upon it. A colleague of mine
> has challenged my view and argues that section 3.4.5 should only relate to
> 'other information' about the individual who was the original focus of the
> monitoring to avoid 'fishing' allegations. Information about other
> individuals should be disregarded as they weren't the original
> focus of the
> covert monitoring.
This also seems akin to public area CCTV coverage, as many people will not
always be fully aware their actions/movements are being recorded.
I would raise the question:- Could it be considered gross misconduct on
behalf of monitoring staff if they ignored something which was materially
disadvantageous to their employer or criminal within the wider community?
Where a recording exists such issues will be reasonably straightforward to
answer.
CCTV clearly does not provide any particularly simple or valuable answer to
problems, but does seem to assure the increasingly consistent application of
rules.
Ian W
> -----Original Message-----
> From: This list is for those interested in Data Protection issues
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Emma Bothamley
> Sent: Wednesday, July 13, 2005 3:29 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Covert monitoring - 'other information'
>
>
> A question about covert monitoring and 'other information' that might be
> found while conducting covert monitoring.
>
> Under section 3.4.5 of the Employment Code of Practice it says that we
> should:
> " . . . Disregard and, where feasible, delete other information
> collected in the course of monitoring unless it reveals that
> no employer
> could reasonably be expected to ignore".
>
> In the Supplementary Guidance it states,
> "Information about workers who are not the target of the investigation
> should be deleted as soon as practicable. The type of activities that
> an employer could not reasonably be expected to ignore might include
> criminal activity, gross misconduct or practices that jeopardise the
> safety of others".
>
> My question is, what if information about workers who are not the
> target of
> the investigation reveals that they are also involved in some equally
> devious but separate criminal activity. Should we delete that information
> and pretend we didn't see it or could we legitimately use the information
> if it revealed something seriously underhand was occurring?
>
> My view is that if the information does reveal something seriously
> underhand, I feel we should be able to act upon it. A colleague of mine
> has challenged my view and argues that section 3.4.5 should only relate to
> 'other information' about the individual who was the original focus of the
> monitoring to avoid 'fishing' allegations. Information about other
> individuals should be disregarded as they weren't the original
> focus of the
> covert monitoring.
>
> Looking at the wording of the Code of Practice, I guess this could be
> argued either way. I'm interested in other people's views on
> this so I can
> attempt to set some best practice guidelines for the business.
>
> Many thanks in advance,
> Emma
>
>
> Emma Bothamley
> Data Protection Consultant
>
> 01733 471226
>
>
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