NSW and Victoria to outlaw email snooping
NSW and Victoria to outlaw email snooping
NSW and Victoria are both set to introduce a privacy law that will protect workers against the threat of employees spying on their use of email and the Internet at work.
NSW introduced draft legislation last week and the Victorian Law Reform Commission is currently looking into recommending similar privacy laws now too.
Under one model of practice, employers would have to seek permission from a privacy regulator before they would be allowed to film staff or read emails.
This would require a right to privacy, which could be limited only under exceptional circumstances.
Staff would then be informed that a monitoring exercise would take place, and they would have to meet a certain standard of compliance.
The method of "naming and shaming" has not been considered because employers are not under any obligation to consider privacy, according to the Victorian Law Reform Commission.
The Commission said that current methods of email surveillance could get out of hand because they are not currently properly regulated.
It also believes that the monitoring of emails could also be justified by preventing harassment at work, protecting company property and ensuring compliance is in line with government legislation.
However, the right to privacy could not be too rigid, because in some circumstances, surveillance is required to investigate theft.
Under the NSW legislation, it will be a criminal offence to carry out any kind of covert surveillance unless there might be reasonable suspicion of wrongdoing.
The laws will prevent employers from secretly checking on private emails, tracking Web site access and using tracking devices.
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