🚀 go-pugleaf

"simon gray" <simon@star-one.org.uk> wrote in message
news:kmcdvsg3b2qc42aj3achnr4lvno56de66o@4ax.com...
> Down on eunet.misc street, the vibe from Steve Glynn is:
>
> > > I totally object to the idea of employers being able to actively read
> > > the entire contents of every single email sent & received by their
> > > employees on a carte blanche basis, without any good reason to suspect
> > > that their employees have been acting against the best interests of
the
> > > company. This is what i'm talking about as regards to an undue (&
> > > possibly illegal) invasion of privacy. To randomly look at what people
> > > are doing with the company internet account is, as far as i'm
concerned,
> > > just the same invasion of privacy that looking at what people are
doing
> > > with the company bogs.
> >
> > Depends on the company and the job function, surely.   If I phone my
bank,
> > or a computer helpline, I usually get told that the call may be
monitored
> > for training and quality control.   Seems reasonable.
>
> I'd say this situation is *slightly* different in that the people
> receiving the phone calls are only ever receiving (not making) them, &
> by & large only the same phone call by lots of different people all day.
>
> > Why shouldn't
> > communications made by e-mail be subject to similar quality control?
>
> It seems likely to me that if somebody sent a 'poor quality' email on
> behalf of the company, the recipient would soon make a complaint. & then
> that employee could be subject to the normal disciplinary procedure,
> which i've already conceded as reasonable.
>
> > And
> > the employer has no way of knowing if a particular e-mail is personal or
> > business related.
>
> They could make a fairly good educated guess given subject lines & who
> they are addressed to.
>
> --
Fair enough, tho' AIUI the point of monitoring helpline calls for quality
control purposes is to track performance in general  (so they know who's
doing a good job and might be in line for promotion, perhaps) and to spot
potential problems before they escalate into a complaint from the customer.

Personally, I don't see why the issue's such a big deal.   I send and
receive almost all my personal e-mail from home.   The only time I use work
e-mail for personal communications (with the company's agreement) is for
minor domestic matters.   And if the company wants to waste time reading
exciting emails between me and my wife on the lines of "Can you stop off at
the Coop on your way home and pick up some frozen peas?", they are welcome
to!

Steve