Company porn creates regulatory nightmare

Two surveys of U.S. and U.K. businesses found that over half of those who responded were not aware lawyers use company internet records for evidence of sexual harassment, workplace harassment and hostile work environments.

Almost two thirds were unaware that child porn, its distribution and consumption, is high on the FBI's list of priorities over the next two years, possibly resulting in investigations into company records.

"We were not surprised to see that almost all leading organizations surveyed have a computer usage policy in place," said Alain Recaborde, principal of Delta Consulting, which conducted the surveys of the largest 500 U.S. and U.K. firms. "But given the high percentage of organizations that detect porn banned by their policies, we were alarmed to find the relatively low awareness of the risk of legal ramifications and potential exposure among those responsible for the company's Acceptable Computer Usage policy."

The surveys also highlighted large discrepancies in how many staff were disciplined for unacceptable usage in U.S. and the U.K. Whereas 70 percent of U.K. firms had taken action against staff for violating policy only 40 percent of U.S. companies have done the same.

www.deltaconsltg.com