Last Autumn saw the arrival of a number of new laws relating to the monitoring by employers of employees' emails and telephone calls.
The new laws include:
The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000
This Act created an offence of intercepting e-mails and other forms of communication without the consent of the sender and the recipient.
The Telecommunications (Lawful Business Practice)(Interception of Communications) Regulations 2000
These Regulations have had effect since 24th October 2000. They allow businesses in certain circumstances to monitor telecommunications for certain purposes, including:
- detecting unauthorised use of the system
- national security
- prevention / detection of crime
