The one part that I think really goes too far is the "requiring a member
of ICT to read any blocked mail". Is a member of the IT team an
appropriate person to judge what is or is not acceptable behaviour?
Surely, they have better things to do. There is probably more mileage
out of arguing that it's a waste of time; and to achieve what?
-----Original Message-----
From: This list is for those interested in Data Protection issues
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Tinsley, Chris
Sent: 13 June 2006 11:43
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [data-protection] Monitoring for Swear words
Thanks for replies
I have many problems with this sort of monitoring.
It was introduced without the users prior knowledge (although there is
mention of monitoring in the email policy).
The list of bad words is not available to the people who are likely to
transgress.
It is automatic, requiring a member of ICT to read any blocked email and
decide whether it is appropriate. Do I really want these people reading
my private emails.
I am an adult, I can decide which words are good or bad.
It engenders an air of mistrust between employer and employee.
It seems that I am the only person in WCC to complain about this
monitoring. I shall have to start my Treat Us Like Adults (TULA)
campaign all on my own.
(Incidentally the email below reached me so I am beginning to wonder
what is being blocked.)
Chris Tinsley
Wiltshire County Council
-----Original Message-----
From: C.B.Bayliss [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Chris
Bayliss
Sent: 13 June 2006 10:28
To: Tinsley, Chris
Cc: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Monitoring for Swear words
On Tue, Jun 13, 2006 at 09:29:52AM +0100, Tinsley, Chris wrote:
> Did any one see this article about the perils of monitoring for Swear
> words
>
>
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/05/30/uemail.x
> ml
>
> We have recently been told at WCC that ICT are now monitoring for
> "swear" words at the email gateway. At WCC we have a policy which
> allows limited private use of email as long as it is not offensive or
> inappropriate. Offensiveness and inappropriateness is in the eye of
the
> beholder, words between friends will have differing appropriateness
than
> words between customers and clients.
>
> The list of words which are block has not been published (probably to
> avoid offending staff).
>
> Do people think that a policy which automatically monitors and blocks
> private as well as business emails using a list of words considered
> inappropriate is a good idea?
As the article you cite illustrates, blocking on a list of words is not
a good idea whatever it is for. Before effective spam filtering
software was available, we tried a keyword and keyphrase filter (on a
purely opt-in basis). We had some success with phrases, but learnt that
there were very few single words that could be blocked safely.
There are problems words which can have innocuous meanings - erection
was mentioned, but there are plenty of others - eg box, member, rimming,
cock, screw, shag, etc. You can't sensibly block them, but if you allow
the words through, the filter isn't doing what you want.
There is also simple matter of false positives in people's names. We
had numerous complaints from people - for example a Dr Wank, a Dr
Cunther and a Richard Dick (I am not joking).
Ther other problem is of mis-spelt words getting through (there are many
variations for the F word - possibly one of the few words that it is
safe to block). We did try allowing for variations in spelling, but
this produced complaints from an engineer mailing about a Fokker
aircraft and physisists trying to discuss the Hartee-Fock theory.
We were only trying to reduce incoming spam. There are now more
effective methods that we deploy.
The whole idea of censoring mail by keywords illustrates the double
standards applied to written elecronic and paper based communications.
I doubt if many organisations open letters and screen them for swear
words.
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