News Release

5th September 2002

EMAILS SHOULD BE PRIVATE

Michael Fabricant will introduce legislation in the House of Commons in the new Parliamentary Session to provide the same privacy in law for emails as currently exists for conventional mail and telephone calls. The change in the law is being introduced in the light of the increased number of employers who routinely monitor their employees' emails to check whether they are being used for business or are private. A number of firms now exist which "audit" emails on behalf of companies by reading through their contents. Moreover, a 400 page report to be published tomorrow (6th September) by Privacy International will claim that individual privacy has been eroded in Britain to a far greater extent than in other major countries.

"While I appreciate that employers need to be satisfied that their employees are working during the hours for which they are paid, it does not give them the right to snoop into the private emails of their employees. My change to the law would give the same protection to emails as already exists for conventional mail and telephone calls. Emails could still be monitored by the police and security services to counter crime and terrorism, provided that they have first obtained a court warrant. This system works satisfactorily for phone taps and the same safeguards should exist for email communication too" says Michael Fabricant. "With the huge increase in electronic communication, it is imperative that Parliament moves to protect the individual's right to privacy in this new medium."