Businesses ignoring dangers of internet abuse
While recent studies have shown that as much as 70% of pornographic material is downloaded from the Internet between working hours, companies nationwide are doing little to combat the problem or to put penalties in place for those who abuse the system.
Recent court cases have highlighted the widespread abuse of the Internet and have shown how those who download child porn in particular can be tracked.
Yet despite all the warnings, businesses are typically ignoring the dangers and are now facing a growing problem over e-mail and internet abuse by employees.
Many companies will face future legal action if they fail to have adequate safeguards in place to protect their staff, customers, and the general public from this problem, the assistant director of the Small Firms Association, Patricia Callan, has warned.
"The duty of care rests with the employer to protect their staff and customers from receiving information which they may find objectionable," she said.
"The growing propensity of e-mail and internet abuse across society generally, is now finding expression in the workplace. Such abuse places a significant duty of care on employers and is costing Irish business hundreds of millions a year in productivity alone."
If employees misuse e-mail or the internet for only 10 minutes each day, then the cost to Irish business is over €300 million a year, in pure productivity terms, she said.
"But e-mail and internet abuse can leave an employer open to even greater costs, such as libel actions, inadvertent entry into binding contracts, breaches of copyright legislation and exposure to sexual harassment and bullying claims."
The most important thing for companies to realise is that they will be held vicariously liable for the actions of their employees, even if these take place without the company's consent.
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