This ZDNET UK News story has been forwarded to you by mikefreeman@hushmail.com who has added these comments: problems with RIP Snooping code hits delays Mon, 15 Jan 2001 15:15:41 GMT Gareth Morgan, IT Week Draft document comes under fire for being too complex, delays ensue A definitive code on email monitoring may be pushed back until after Easter, as the Data Protection Commission (DPC) examines ways to simplify the draft document following a barrage of criticism from industry. David Smith, the deputy data protection commissioner, told IT Week the final version of the code of practice relating to employees' personal data could be split into separate sections to cover areas such as recruitment, monitoring and maintenance of records. "[The draft version] was not as clear as it might have been," said Smith, "so we are considering splitting the code into separate parts, but this will require additional time to produce." The changes could delay publication of the code - originally pencilled in for early spring - until after Easter. In the meantime, IT managers are being advised to continue to draw up and implement their own codes of conduct. Although industry is keen to have a code in place as soon as possible, businesses agree it must be unambiguous and easy to enforce. The draft version had been criticised by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) for being too long and complicated. "Some parts of the code are clearly unworkable," said Rod Armitage, the head of legal affairs at the CBI. "It is vital that we get this code right." The CBI is also concerned that firms will not have the freedom to determine their own guidelines on monitoring their employees. Smith said he would meet the CBI and other interested parties over the coming weeks to discuss the proposed code, and was well aware of the importance being placed on the issue of monitoring. The bulk of the 70 responses to the consultation document which the DPC received had focused on the issue of monitoring. But the CBI is likely to be disappointed if it hopes the DPC will give firms greater freedom to monitor their employees. The draft proposals ruled that any monitoring of employee communications must be in proportion to the business benefits that an organisation could hope to achieve by it. Smith said although there were areas where changes could be made to the draft proposals, the 1998 Data Protection Act had to be adhered to: "The code of practice is our interpretation of the Data Protection Act." The issue of email monitoring has resurfaced recently, with the TUC describing incidents such as the sacking of ten workers at the Royal & SunAlliance insurance company for forwarding lewd emails around the office as out of proportion to the offence. A spokeswoman for the TUC confirmed that the organisation had been given special permission to provide feedback on the draft code a week after the deadline. However, she was unable to provide further comment. Take me to ZDNet Enterprise (http://www.zdnet.co.uk/news/specials/2000/10/enterprise/) They can see you... Read about how and why in Surveillance (http://www.zdnet.co.uk/news/specials/1999/09/surveillance/), a ZDNet News Special Have your say instantly, and see what others have said. Click on the TalkBack (http://forums.zdnet.co.uk/community/wwwthreads.cgi?forum=anchordesk#ZDNetNew...) button and go to the ZDNet News forum. Let the editors know what you think in the Mailroom (mailroomuk@zdnet.com). And read (http://www.zdnet.co.uk/news/mailroom.html) what others have said. If you found this ZDNN news report valuable, why not sign up for the free daily ZDNN News Alert - and we'll email you our top five headlines every day. http://www.zdnet.co.uk/misc/newsletters/news.html ZDNet News: The UK's best source for computing news - updated throughout the day. http://www.zdnet.co.uk/news/ Please report any abuse of this service to ukwebmaster@zdnet.com