Ignorance of email monitoring rules in the uk

In a new survey of 100 business people across various UK industries, 44% said they do not have policies in place for email use by staff or have them but don’t follow them. Of those companies with email use policies in place, 32% said they have disciplined their staff for email abuse.

The survey, entitled “Email: Coming out of the Amateur’s Closet!,” was carried out by market research firm Vanson Bourne on behalf of Interliant, an ASP.

Other findings show that 28% of email users do not pay the same level of attention to e-mails as they do to letters, although the study does not distinguish between internal, personal and customer/client correspondence in this statistic.

The survey also said that 24% of respondents “have received an email with an error that substantially changed the meaning.” More than half of emails sent by 88% of respondents were business-related, not personal. The most common number of emails sent and received each day was between 30 and 50.

Of those firms using confidentiality notices and disclaimers as automatic headers or footers in their e-mails, 34% of respondents thought they would be legally effective. OUT-LAW.COM’s John Salmon said:

“In most cases, disclaimers that in effect tell a recipient not to rely on the content of the email will be ineffective. It is worth using confidentiality notices to cover the situation where the e-mail is sent to the wrong person.”

Only 26% of respondents were aware of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act which came into force in October 2000 and creates an offence of intercepting e-mails except in certain circumstances. In the case of employers, the rules for an employer to follow if wanting to monitor staff email are set out in Regulations made under the Act, the Human Rights Act and a draft Code issued by the Information Commissioner (formerly the Data Protection Commissioner).

Salmon added:

“Although this report only surveyed a fairly small number of individuals, it’s clear that there is still confusion about what businesses can and cannot do with regard to monitoring e-mail. Basically, any business giving staff e-mail access should have an e-mail policy in place. For it to be effective, the staff must know about it and it must be enforced. An employer must not turn a blind eye to abuse of the policy and then suddenly punish one employee for abusing it.

“E-mail policies need not just cover monitoring; they should set out the steps for employees to follow when, for example, e-mailing customers, to ensure the company’s quality standards and procedures are not compromised.”

One third of respondents said they conduct legally binding transactions by e-mail – yet more than half of all respondents incorrectly thought that contracts entered into by e-mail carried less “legal weight” than contracts expressed in letter on headed stationery.

More information
For a guidance on these rules and to request a free policy from OUT-LAW.COM, the new media and e-commerce service of international law firm Masons.
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