Having worked in the public sector for the last 20 years and close
contact with Social Services for the last 10 I have dealt with the most
vulnerable people in society and been subject to wrath of people who
have a genuine complaint but do not have the social skills to express
the complaint with language that does not contain "profanities". It is
about context.
In the public sector (or private sector) it is not a good thing to use
bad language when expressing annoyance, anger or other non-positive
reactions to a colleague or member of the public. This is not the
issue.
In the public sector it is not a good thing, in fact it is a very bad to
act as a moral arbitrator, offensiveness and inappropriateness are not
absolutes they are judgements.
In instances where "private" emails are blocked there needs to be good
justifications to do so, it is a curtailment of what is left of free
speech.
In the public sector we should uphold free speech.
In the public sector I presume swearing is discouraged in all areas it
is in my organisation. When sending emails, which I presume are private,
to someone who I know and with whom I have a good relationship I would
hope to be able to use a more colloquial way of address and language.
Chris Tinsley
Wiltshire County Council
Tel:01225 713644
-----Original Message-----
From: This list is for those interested in Data Protection issues
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Nick Landau
Sent: 14 June 2006 14:52
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [data-protection] Monitoring for Swear words
I do contract work and so I have experience of various organisations -
mainly in the last few years in the NHS.
I have worked in certainly one NHS office where swearing was very much
discouraged.
We are talking about the workplace, where our colleagues don't have any
choice about who they work with and therefore we should be respecting
our
colleagues and creating an atmosphere in which all can work without
feeling
uncomfortable.
We can choose which film we see, switch off our TV and decided which pub
to
go to, but we can't generally choose our workplace environment.
In the public sector we are also creating an environment that reflects
our
attitude to the people we serve - and many of us are dealing with
vulnerable
people.
In the public sector (particulary the NHS) most areas might be open to
our
clients and colleagues from other departments and therefore our offices
should not be a lads' or ladettes' club.
Nick Landau
----- Original Message -----
From: "Tinsley, Chris" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, June 14, 2006 12:57 PM
Subject: Re: [data-protection] Monitoring for Swear words
If anyone is interest in research about swearing this website contains
links to an Offcomm report on attitudes to TV and swearing and a
Guardian article on peoples attitudes to various "offensive" words.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/ouch/200511/offensive_disability_words.shtml
Chris Tinsley
Wiltshire County Council
-----Original Message-----
From: This list is for those interested in Data Protection issues
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Tim Trent
Sent: 14 June 2006 11:24
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [data-protection] Monitoring for Swear words
I think the issues of filtering for words and expectation of good
behaviour
are different.
I expect good behaviour and politeness from inbound emails, and I see no
reason to tolerate abuse, whether the abuser has been given prior
warning or
not. Depending upon the level of the abuse I will speak to the person
concerned or to their management if I view it as necessary.
I do strongly object to word filtration, though. I forget the
circumstance
now, but I recall emailing a school in the USA that was engaged in a
project
that interested me. A wholly irrelevant word was filtered out of my
email
and the email was bounced to me. I found it aggravating and lost
interest
in the school and its project.
Interesting word filters now remove words like "specialist" because they
contain the string "cialis". Obviously the Scunthorpe incident is with
us
still. There are also websites which refer to "Medireview" instead of
"Medieval" because yahoo blocked and substituted the string "eval". So
we
now have a new discipline of "Medireviewist" and will doubtless have
degrees
awarded in it soon.
The issue about word filtration is an IT issue. IT departments often do
things "because they can" not "because it is needed". Government
organisations are easy to criticise, so they implement political
correctness
rather strictly in some cases, and IT thus looks congruent with the
direction of the organisation.
Instead we need common sense.
I'm not into "robust vs non robust staff". I am much more into
requiring
and expecting good behaviour. My 87 year old white haired mother has
heard
the many variants of what we regard as offensive language, dislikes it,
is
upset by it, and remonstrates with users.
At work I have a right not to be abused. I have an expectation that my
employer will protect me form abuse. But I do not expect them to go to
extreme lengths to give me that protection I simply expect them to back
me
up when I am upset by it.
Tim Trent - Consultant
Direct: +44(0)1344 392644 Mobile:+44(0)7710 126618
email: [log in to unmask]
Marketing Improvement Limited, Abbey House, Grenville Place, Bracknell,
United Kingdom, RG12 1BP
http://www.marketingimprovement.com
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-----Original Message-----
From: This list is for those interested in Data Protection issues
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Nick Landau
Sent: 14 June 2006 11:11
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [data-protection] Monitoring for Swear words
I cannot speak about being a recipient of swear words - but you seemed
to be
implying that it was OK for staff to swear in their emails.
In my doctor's surgery it says that staff should not be expected to put
up
with abusive behaviour - I would suggest that emails and written
correspondence are just the same.
I can understand that people might use swear words as a matter of course
when speaking and without thinking, but might I suggest that someone
would
give a little thought to what they write - however inarticulate.
If they have to rephrase their letter to remove an obscenity I don't see
that there is anything wrong with that - no different to if a Practice
Manager said similar to a patient.
Staff also should be protected - and possibly they are not all as robust
as
you appear to be.
Nick Landau
----- Original Message -----
From: "Tinsley, Chris" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, June 14, 2006 10:49 AM
Subject: Re: [data-protection] Monitoring for Swear words
What is missing from the act of monitoring and blocking in all cases is
context and intent. The monitoring software takes a word out of context
and determines that there is enough wrong with the word to flag and
block the email. This happens for both private and business emails.
These mails are then arbitrarily judged by a member of the IT team.
The words are not the problem, swearing can be used as a term of
affection (and often is in male to male conversation) and it is very
possible to be extremely intimidating without the use of swearing (who
remembers Norman Tebbit). The only people with enough knowledge to
judge the context and intent are the sender and recipient, anyone else
should not be in the loop. If there is then seen to be a problem
something can be done about it.
It is possible that someone may fell that swearing is totally
appropriate when dealing with a council employee who is being less than
helpful, not everyone is as articulate as the people on this.
Thank you for your responses so far to my question, it has started an
interesting debate locally.
Chris Tinsley
Wiltshire County Council
-----Original Message-----
From: This list is for those interested in Data Protection issues
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Roland Perry
Sent: 14 June 2006 09:28
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [data-protection] Monitoring for Swear words
In message <[log in to unmask]>, at
18:19:40 on Tue, 13 Jun 2006, Kevin Broadfoot
<[log in to unmask]> writes
>I seem to recall that the 1984 Telecommunications Act makes it an
offence
>to send a message that is offensive or obscene (so potentially a crime
>enabling the derogation to be employed if it isn't alrady for public
>morals purposes) and although it might be stretching it a bit, the test
in
>the 1959 Obscene Publications Act for what is obscene is based on the
>effect on the person receiving the communication/article.
The current rule is in the Communications Act 2003 which makes an
offence of sending a message ... that is grossly offensive, indecent,
obscene or menacing in character via the public telecommunication system
or sending a false message for the purpose of causing annoyance,
inconvenience or needless anxiety...
There's also the The Malicious Communications Act 1988 Section 1 as
amended by the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001 Section 43 which
deals with (amongst other things) sending a communication with *intent*
to cause distress or anxiety. [My emphasis].
--
Roland Perry
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