Everybody’s surfing:Social networking at work

Thorsten LauterbachDepartment of Law

Agenda

• Social networking sites

• Why use them?

• SNS at the workplace

• The law – framework rather than solutions

• Policies and education

• Conclusions

The many faces of web surfing

• Facebook, Bebo, MySpace, LinkedIn

• YouTube – info-sharing sites– Scomi Oiltools Digger Spin, Peterhead, March 2008– http://www.stv.tv/content/news/headlines/display.html?id=opencm

s:/news/newArticle8903472– http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ju8m4Y2Hf6w

• Blogs – online diaries, opinion columns– “Waterstone's throws book at blogger”, 2005– http://www.woolamaloo.org.uk/

• Ebay – personal shopping and auction sites

Perils

• ENISA Report 2007• Spending too much time on SNS• Individual privacy concerns• Inviting computer viruses into the

business• Disseminating confidential information• Cyber-bullying and harassment; posting

of defamatory messages

Business usage & benefits?

• Establishing of professional contacts; often key business resource (e.g. LinkedIn)

• Usage of SNS instead of face-to-face meetings within and amongst businesses

• Vetting of existing and/or prospective employees (socially/morally acceptable?)– “e-footprint” being left by SNS users

Restricting Use of SNS

• Technology available to block sites– ... but there are too many!

• No clear way of identifying which sites should be blocked as ‘time-wasting’

• Difficult to establish what is ‘business use’ against ‘personal use’

• Professionals take dim view on external restrictions on Internet access (mistrust; assumption that staff cannot be trusted)

Monitoring use & content

• Data Protection Act 1998

• Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000

• Data Protection Codes of Practice issued by the Information Commissioner

• Telecommunications (Lawful Business Practice) (Interception of Communications) Regulations 2000

• European and UK-based human rights legislation

What does this mean in practice?

• Businesses need to make all employees aware of the nature and extent of any monitoring and the reasons for it

• Monitoring must be conducted in a proportionate manner and in a way which preserves the privacy of an individual insofar as possible: at the least intrusive level vis-à-vis the purpose of the monitoring

• Impact assessment:– who monitors, and are they aware of their legal obligations– monitoring for which purposes– how will the information from the monitoring be used and

stored

Employment tribunal decisionsresist bans or similar knee-jerk

reactions

• Best to resist bans or similar knee-jerk reactions

– Taylor v Somerfield Stores Ltd 24 July 2007, Aberdeen

– Sanderson v Dixon Wilson (2006)

– Simonetti v Delta Airlines (2004)

– Goudie v Royal Bank of Scotland (2004)

Solutions?

• Outright ban of SNS use at workplace– Allen & Overy; Argos

• Reasonable usage permissible• Education – awareness of concerns

– Staff development

• Education – internet use policy– Clear guidelines of what is permitted and what isn’t– Clear guidelines on possible sanctions and levels of seriousness

• Embracing SNS via internet use policy and education – be proactive, not reactive:– Meall, L. “Risk and reward” Accountancy 2008, (Aug), 75-76

Indicative bibliography

• Yeoman, A. “Facing up to Facebook” Comps. & Law 2007, 18(4), 30-32

• Delaney, A. “Online misconduct” Emp.L.B. 2008, 84(Apr), 4-5

• Westbrooke, A. “Surf and Skive: Work and Play” Comps. & Law 2008,

• Bradshaw, M “Monitoring Employee Internet Use” Comps. & Law 2008,

• Armstrong, N. “Blog and be damned?” N.L.J. 2008, 158(7312), 387

• James, Steven, “SNS: regulating the online “Wild West” of Web 2.0”, Ent. L.R. 2008, 19(2), 47-50

• http://www.out-law.com (Pinsent Masons online)