A recent poll conducted by ZDNet Australia asked whether people were concerned about the new breed of email snooping software. Over 82 respondents felt that such software was far too invasive and that email privacy should be respected, while less than 18 percent were in favour of such tools because they have nothing to hide.
Not surprisingly, vendors are aware of the market perception of such products and feel that a combination of education and negotiation is required to help realise a correct balance for using and accepting these productss.
"I'm not at all surprised by these findings," says Charles Heunemann, managing director of SurfControl Australia, which develops SuperScout, an email filtering software package that can be used to elminate offensive material. "I think that ZDNet's survey is a good reflection of the general community's perception that corporate Internet use is private."
Despite this current perception, Heunemann feels that it needs to be balanced with the fact that "company Internet and email resources are corporate assets". Heunemann says, "Through responsible implementation, employers can provide a secure and safe working environment, while still allowing employees the flexibility to utilise [these] resources for work and responsible personal use."
As far as SurfControl is concerned, its software is not about employers spying on their employees, but rather helping "organisations that are concerned about the risks posed by serious misuse of the Internet and email".
However, that doesn't mean that Heunemann believes employers should adopt an authoritarian attitude to employees. Rather, employers are adamant the Federal Privacy Commissioner's guidelines on acceptable use is a good place to start, he says. "The general point of the policy guidelines are that organisations should lead with policy and education before engaging in Internet filtering and monitoring," says Heunemann.
