Page 1 of Monitoring Internet Usage At Work

The company I work for has been monitoring internet usage at work. They listed the top 20 users (out of a staff total of 800) on our internal website.
I came 4th!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Updating my CV for the inevitable.

Is it legal for them to monitor and report my usage?

A few hours later they removed the list!

well, i wouldn`t have thought it was legal for them to show every one a list of who has been looking on the net at work. data protection law says you have a right to a certain amount of privacy in the workplace - this sounds like an infringement on that.

So far as I know there has been no real test case on this, but as the law stands, firms can only monitor your browsing if they have already told you that they will be doing so - they also are expected to regularly remind you of this fact and point you in the direction of best practice net usage guidance. My brother has just signed a massive document at his work that covers his employer`s ass like an out-sized nappy. At my work there is something, but I`ve never signed it, so good luck to them when they try and sack me.

this is an example of the sort of thing..

if they want to monitor you without your knowing they have to suspect that there is illegal activity going on, and should consult with tha law! before they start their snooping.

here is some other info..

and here





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This item was edited on Thursday, 23rd February 2006, 12:56

As said above, they should have warned you about monitoring. They should also have a published policy (my company lets you use the internet "in your own time" - e.g. like now at lunch !). If not, I doubt they`d take any official action.

If you do get asked to explain, you could ask them how they know the stats are accurate ? It it merely connection time they`re reporting on (e.g. access bbc news once, but leave connected all morning) or more sophisticated ? I`d also ask do they monitor phone calls people make ? Smoking breaks. Toilet breaks etc. If not why not ?

mate of mine is a contractor - takes great delight in clocking on then going for a "tom tit" for 10 mins to read his paper...

I work in an IT dept, and we monitor internet usage. Not may ppl have internet acces, but when you join, you sign a thing to say you won`t abuse email, internet etc, look at porn, download mp3s, executables and run them etc.

One of the reasons is becuase a lot of work is done over the internet, so we can have ppl hogging all the bandwidth downloading mp3s, preventing ppl getting paid ;)

What we do is look at the logs each, the IT dept are typically top few users :) So say tomorrow, I see Johnny New boy has downloaded more info than me in terms of MB, I`ll look at what sites he has been to.

now say between 12 and 13 he was on say a car site, had lots of images no problem. now if that happened at 10 in the morning and 3 in the afternoon, I`d check the next few days. If it`s a one off, we`d let it go. If every day for a week we saw he was surfing the internet, we`d let his manager know.

One time, we had bloke who seemed to spend several days looking at ogrish.com, and rotten.com. As soon as we saw those sites had been visited we had to tell his manager

Saying that, if some-one was looking at car sites, and then we saw something that looked like a porn site had been accessed, but only 2mb of files was downloaded, then we`d assume it was a genuine accident.

We certainly wouldn`t publish the list on the intranet, that does seem to be a def data protections act no no!

You do have to use a lot of common sense, but internet usage monitoring is normal. However we don`t give managers access to the stats. A manager would have to formally request to see if Mr(s) X had been abusing the internet.

Generally IMHO ppl don`t abuse the system, it`s only the silly ppl that stream internet radio all day or look at sites they really shouldn`t that get noticed. We have better things to do with our time then visit every single web site that ppl look at to see if it is appropriate, besides it`s not my job to make sure if ppl are getting on with there work!

ppl just think they can get away with it easier, cos you can quickly minimise a window, where as if you were sat there reading abook it would look a bit obvious ;)

Hope that helps!

Al
www.admars.co.uk

my employer states that internet usage is permitted as long as it doesn`t interfere with the workload... so as long as my work is done at the end of the night.. who cares if I`ve been surfing for 6 hours straight..

I forgot to mention, when we 1st started monitoring I got http://www.dvd.reviewer.co.uk/ in the top ten sites for content download :)

www.admars.co.uk

I suspect you don`t work in a unionised workplace as this sort of thing should be covered ,if not by a collective agreement, by a policy that had been subject to meaninful consultation and all employees made aware of it.
Their `name and shame` policy is totally unacceptable.
If the employer intends taking action against you you will need representation. I suggest you contact your union straight away.
And if you`re not in a union, why not?

"And if you`re not in a union, why not?"

I`ll tell you why I`m no longer in one -

1. staff too poorly paid to afford subs
2. staff too scared to organise for fear of management reprisals
3. there is now no union for printers... after the last remaining one the GPMU merged with AMICUS..
4. AMICUS are the union that allowed engineers totake the printers jobs during wapping..

so there you go..

Quote:
"And if you`re not in a union, why not?"
I`ll tell you why I`m no longer in one -
Well, the question wasn`t aimed directly at you Haggis but if you want my answers I am pleased to give them.

1. staff too poorly paid to afford subs
for most members union subs cost less per week than most people spend on one drink in a pub. I certainly value my job more highly than the cost of a pint!
The more people who join the less the cost of membership will be for everyone.
The more people who join the more effective their collective voice and muscle will be to raise wages for the low-paid.

2. staff too scared to organise for fear of management reprisals
It is unlawful for an employer to treat any employee less favourably or take reprisals against them because of their trade union membership or lawful trade union activity. Clearly the more people who join the safer everyone will be. By not joining, non-members are letting down their work colleagues.

3. there is now no union for printers... after the last remaining one the GPMU merged with AMICUS.
There is a union for print workers and that is amicus. It has a graphical, paper and media sector. The merger with amicus was subject to a vote of all GPMU members. That's democracy. If you`re not happy to accept the democratic decision of the GPMU membership and don`t want to be an amicus member then there are other general unions that would happily represent you, such as the T&G or GMB

4. AMICUS are the union that allowed engineers to take the printers jobs during Wapping.
Amicus didn`t even exist during the Wapping dispute. Unions are member led. If you don`t like their policy or what they do, then get in there and organise!

This item was edited on Thursday, 23rd February 2006, 22:02

ok.. yes.. i believe strongly that we should be in a union.. and i tried to get the rest of the creative department to join the GMPU.. but they were too scared and too poorly paid to keep it up.. I needed 90%.. and I was just short of it...

I left the union because of the merger.. i voted against AMICUS and for the GMB.. but just becasue AMICUS has a section for Printers.. doesn`t make it a printers union... and AMICUS evolved from the EETPU.. and becuase I come from a family of printers.. and in respect of my dad.. I will never accept AMICUS..

as I said.. I am a union man.. but there are few of us left.. and it`s hard to get older staff who have been badly represented before and younger staff who have no idea to organise.. I tried my best.. and failed.. and as I`m leaving the profession all togther in September.. it`s not in my court anymore