The Minister for E-commerce and Small Business Patricia Hewitt
yesterday published draft regulations setting out the conditions in
which businesses can record and monitor e-mails and phone-calls.
The guidelines abandon the government’s earlier proposal to require
the consent of both the sender and receiver of e-mails and phone
calls for most monitoring.
The regulations are scheduled to come into effect on 24th October under the controversial Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act. The regulations in their earlier form were initially intended to come into force on 2nd October. They allow business and public authorities to record or monitor communications without the caller's consent in such cases as:
- Recording evidence of transactions;
- Ensuring compliance with regulatory or self regulatory rules or guidance;
- Gaining routine access to business communications;
- Maintaining the effective operation of their systems;
- Monitoring standards of service and training; and
- Combating crime and the unauthorised use of their systems.
Ms Hewitt said:
"These draft regulations need to strike the right balance between protecting the privacy of individuals and enabling industry and business to get the maximum benefit from new communications technology.
"These regulations will not lead to significant changes in normal business practice in normal business practice. But they will help users of e-commerce to be confident about giving information over the telephone, e-mail or internet.
“These regulations will reassure businesses, who can be confident that their normal business practice will not fall foul of the law.”
The new form of regulations has been criticised by trade unions who have said they will use the right to privacy contained in the new Human Rights Act to challenge the rules. However, industry bodies reacted favourably to the change in the government’s stance.
You can find out about internet and e-mail policies in this article.
