International experts have quashed claims from a local filtering software company that -75 percent of employees give the thumbs up to email monitoring", saying its interpretation of a US survey is -slanted".

A recent press release distributed by SurfControl claims the Internet and Email Usage and Monitoring Policies survey conducted by Harris Interactive shows that 75 percent of US employees give email monitoring the -thumbs up" -- a figure that civil liberties group Electronic Frontiers Australia (EFA) executive director Irene Graham found -absolutely astounding".

-There's something exceedingly suspicious about it," Graham agreed. -If this survey in the US is true, it would not be the case in Australia."

The survey on workplace surveillance goes on to say that 85 of respondents believe proactive measures should be in place to secure confidential information. Eighty-five percent of those surveyed also thought measures should be in force to prevent the slowing of transactions and 85 percent wanted companies to do something to prevent spam from hitting their inboxes.

-The survey data doesn't seem to square with the press release headline. I don't see where 75 percent of employees support email monitoring. Most surveys show a very high level of concern with respect to electronic privacy generally," David Sobel of the US-based Electronic Privacy Information Centre (EPIC) said in an email interview with ZDNet Australia.

Sobel agreed that the press release was misleading, "The survey questions (and the company's interpretation) seems slanted," he said.

Whilst the EFA's Graham agrees that employees are more likely to approve of employers intercepting email to block spam, she says from the emails of concern EFA receives -it is clear people have concerns about privacy. We believe the majority of employees in Australia do not consider it acceptable for employers to be monitoring email".

When asked to comment on the controversial figure Charles Heunemann, managing director of SurfControl in Australia - the company which distributed the press release in which it touts its software - said he believed the 75 percent figure -needs to be tested in Australia".

-It depends on what it is you're saying to people you'll filter/monitor for them," he agreed.

The University of Western Sydney is conducting a survey into Internet privacy and surveillance in Australia, the results of which will be due out in the next few months.

When it comes to being surveilled, people themselves don't know what they want, according to the University's Ray Archee. -People do not want to be spammed, they're fearful of computer viruses and to some extent are worried about pornography...but at the same time people don't want Big Brother looking over their shoulder watching their every move...that's the fear, Big Brother," he said.

The Internet Privacy and Surveillance survey can be found at at www.training-search.com.au/privacy/

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