Allowing unwanted email to reach your organisation goes beyond the issue of hindering productivity. There are now laws on both sides of the Atlantic to expose employers to charges of liability and harassment. These charges can be brought even if the harassment comes from a faceless, unknown global Spammer. Being ‘unaware’ of having to shield your employees is no excuse in the eyes of the law and taking such issues lightly with a low-end solution for Viruses, Spam, Sexually Explicit Material and Unwelcome Content will not protect employers from litigation.
Email, the Internet, Data retention and legal compliance?
There are a host of Acts and legislative guidelines across an array of sectors and industries which advocate compliance in relation to electronic communications and data retention within organisations regardless of size! Numerous government bodies and standards agencies are continuously advocating new guidelines and implementing laws that affect different sectors in various ways from health and education establishments to enterprises and government.
However, the overall attention and seriousness such laws are being awarded across all industries as a whole, is testimony to the seriousness of the issue and the necessity for organisations and IT mangers to really take note!
Just some of these acts and legislative guidelines include:
- SoX
- HIPAA
- FRCP
- HITECH
- Freedom of information Act
- Data Protection act
- Employers Duty of Care
- Information retention act
- PCI compliance
Given the extensive list of legislation regarding email and data management in the workplace that is currently active, the issue regarding legalities and electronic communications is clearly one to take note of! However unfortunately that’s not the case with even IT managers admitting to be uncertain or unclear of such legislation and the resulting ramifications.
