Nothing to fear from new surveillance bill
Nothing to fear from new surveillance bill
Sep 05, 2005: This is the message coming from security experts, who believe that the NSW Workplace Surveillance Bill does not need to invoke fear, uncertainty and doubt into employees.
The bill was touted last year as a potential bridge between the employer and employee that will demand work place respect from workers and fairer treatment from organisations.
But some people feared it would provide a licence for employers to spy on them. Peter Croft, the managing director of Clearswift Asia Pacific, acted quickly to quell these fears.
"It simply says employers must tell staff that their work email is being monitored. At the same time, staff must understand that if they use the web on their work computer there are systems in place to track and filter where they surf.
"Panic about the Act is a furphy. The legislation simply confirms what wise employers are doing. Clearswift works with over 50% of Australia's top corporates and government departments and their employees know that email and web filtering is used.
"For example; some companies make staff sign email and Internet use policies; others use daily log-in notices; some companies run training on email and web use and traditional face to face meetings and presentations are used to discuss the latest web and email issues."
NSW is going to be the blueprint for implementation of similar Acts around Australia. Victoria is next to follow, and then Queensland, until it is standard practice all around Australia.
Croft believes that is a very open system that will be normal for future generations.
"This is not about snooping on employees, but about protecting a business's tangible and intangible assets. Employees are also protected by ensuring that offensive and inappropriate material does not circulate in the workplace."
"Employers cannot snoop in private emails. However, staff should be careful if they use workplace computers to access private email from websites such as Hotmail, Yahoo! and Bigpond. Company web monitoring systems can review information received and sent from any company computer."
He said that the NSW Workplace Surveillance Act should be used to establish policy, educate employees about appropriate use and enforce the policy, including sanctions for breaches.
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