Emloyers gaining access to employees private email

WicklowRover

Hi

Firstly, I am NOT looking for any form of legal advice here, but have, over the last few years, heard some disturbing stories from various people in relation to their employers gaining access and reading their own personal email, and, having searched long and hard, cannot find any definitive answers.....

I am not talking about personal email being sent or received via their companies web server - I am referring to people who have pc's or laptops provided to them, via their employees. It is commonplace for said people to set up both their work and personal email accounts using, say MS-Outlook, whereby they can send and receive both work and personal emails.

Now, if an employee should resign from a Company, and return said laptop/pc etc. to their employer, and do their best to delete their own personal email accounts, and history, but subsequent to their termination of employment, their employer manages to gain access to their non-work related/personal emails, is this illegal?

Now, in my opinion, I would be of the belief that this is a breach/invasion of privacy. What is the situation in these cases? Obviously, an employee sending or receiving malicious email via their employers email system is a total no-no, but wha about an employer interrogating a pc/laptop of an employee/previous employee, and managing to read and/or send/forward on email messages that were email addreses REGISTERED personally in the name of said employee?

Or, does legislation in this regard exist in Ireland?

Regards

Ciaran

nuac

As any email can, I understand, be recovered from most computer systems, it would be more prudent for an employee to use his/her own PC ro laptop for private emails.

Paulw

If the computer belongs to the company, then any data stored on the computer is available to the company. They have the right to search, check, or even undelete data stored on the machine.

If you don't want the company to have access to your personal emails/files, then simply don't use a work computer to access this data.

Most companies would have an IT or data policy in place, which explains their rights to any data stored or accessed through their network or on any machine provided by them.

Tom Young

Copland v. UK discusses this at length.

ireland1italy0

Tom Young wrote: »

Copland v. UK discusses this at length.

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!

damn you...i saw the thread and I thought here is the chance...my first chance to APPLY some law.

oh well.

for what its worth, yes, copland is the answer....

Tom Young

http://www.thegovernmentsays.com/cache/90069.html

It is nuanced!

Paulw

So, let me understand this, in simple terms -

If there is no notification that your calls/emails/data may be monitored by the company, then you have every right to expect total privacy?

But, if there is a company policy in place, and you are made aware of it, that the company may monitor all internet traffic and calls (including emails and data storage), then the company does have a right to access your data?

I'm curious now. :rolleyes:

Tom Young

Read Copland. More or less yes, but it's not a hard and fast right.

ALFIET

I would argue that the company property is the company property therefore anything on belongs to the company.

The monitoring of email as a process should be communicated but if not, i would still argue the validity of the property of the laptop remaining with the company and therefore anything on it belongs to the company and not the individual

Tom Young

You might loose that arguement.

ALFIET

the emphasis is on the word might there!!

it could quite easily be argued

Tom Young

Did you read Copland? Doctrine of constructive notice would appear to apply to the concept.

ALFIET

I am in the HR profession. I let our lawyers read the actual cases and advise us accordingly but also take in to account procedures being in place, contracts, regular communications etc etc etc. I also then weigh up costs of taking action in terms of worst case scenarios.
I would never though give an employee a company laptop or access to any IT equipment without having a procedure in place which is read and signed at induction. I would not expose the company to that risk!:P

Tom Young

Excellent, sounds like you have everything in order, in your place.

Copland is interesting as a HR action was taken by the state against a civil servant (Copland) for use of email and telephone facilities. No processes were in place.

Tim