Website and Email Law

5. Monitoring

A monitoring system can help you control inappropriate or illegal use of email and the Internet in your business.

There are legal restrictions on monitoring, although this remains a grey area.

If you are going to monitor emails or Internet use (or phone calls), you must inform employees that you intend to do so. Make it part of your employment contracts and your email and Internet policies.

5.1 In general, you can monitor Internet and email traffic.

• You can install software which produces a log of all emails sent and received, together with the addresses (but not the contents).
• You can install software which produces a log of all Internet sites visited and any downloads made.
• You can also install software to prohibit access to specified Internet sites.
• If you do decide to monitor your employees use of email and the Internet, it is essential that you make them aware that you are doing so.

5.2 Under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act, you may inspect individual emails without an employee's consent for specific business purposes. These include:

• Recording transactions and other important business communications.
• Making sure employees comply both with the law and with your internal policies.
• Preventing abuse of your telecoms system.
• Checking emails when employees are on leave.

5.3 If you wish to monitor communications for other purposes, or are not sure whether you have the right to read an email, you must get permission to do so.

• You need permission from both the sender and the receiver.