So, personal use of a company PC could incur £210 tax (PersonnelToday.com, 2 May). At what point do we ask the government for a reality check?
While companies need a policy on the appropriate use of e-mail, they must also demonstrate trust.
Many of the staff in my organisation use e-mail as a networking tool to maintain contact with friends and peers. But I am not about to start acting as the ‘e-mail police’, reading and vetting e-mails within an organisation of 10,000 employees to determine which messages are personal and which are business-related.
It is also worth noting that under the Anti-Terrorism Act, we will be obliged to back up and archive e-mails in the event that the police wish to review communication between potential suspects.
I shall be quite happy to forward all the e-mails from my organisation (150,000 per day) to Gordon Brown for his approval before they are sent.
Graeme Blundell, IT programme manager, University College for the Creative Arts
