Should I give access to the in-box of an employee?
The department head requested that the computer department gives him access to the e-mail in-box of an employee.
The employee had been absent for a long time.
The employee did not take any steps to make his professional messages available.
The ISD denied access. Electronic messages are secure and access is strictly defined.
The department head has no access to his employee's email in-box because he does not have the access rights.
Recommendations
Guidelines should be developed concerning the use of email. In the absence of clear rules, access to the in-box of an employee is only possible for serious and objective reasons.
Basic principles
Cst. 13 al. 1 ; CP 143, 179novies and 321ter ; CO 328 and 328b
The right to respect privacy including correspondence, worker protection, transparency of data collection (recognisable purpose and to be used for this purpose only)
Resources
