Concerns have been raised over businesses who fail to have a distinct IT policy and allow employees to freely access a variety of websites while at work.
It is argued that companies without a specific IT policy could come up against difficulty in disciplining employees who compromise sensitive information through public websites. As such, employers are being urged to make sure an IT policy is in place regarding which sites workers are allowed to access.
Madeline Bennett of IT Week magazine highlights the data breach risks linked to the use of public websites, focusing on social networking sites such as Facebook.
"The lack of a policy means that if the use of any of these systems leads to a data breach … it is much harder to take disciplinary action against the employee," she told Workplace Law.
It is also stressed that without defining a specific internet usage policy, any restrictions imposed could constitute a violation of human rights.
Thousands of UK workers have been banned from using social networking sites such as Facebook while at work in a bid to reduce the amount of time wasted during working hours.
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