Post by Teddy Bear on Jul 15, 2014 19:30:30 GMT
Just imagine working for this insidious organisation.
Somehow it's not surprising that the BBC are paranoid, they have good reason to feel that way. We know of the scandals that have come to light in recent years, and can only speculate on how many are still to come out. Clearly management are worried about it and feel they need to spy on their staff's emails to see what they might be disclosing.
At least now that staff know about it, anything they might want to share won't be done by email.
Somehow it's not surprising that the BBC are paranoid, they have good reason to feel that way. We know of the scandals that have come to light in recent years, and can only speculate on how many are still to come out. Clearly management are worried about it and feel they need to spy on their staff's emails to see what they might be disclosing.
At least now that staff know about it, anything they might want to share won't be done by email.
BBC admits to reading staff emails: Broadcaster says it monitored 81 accounts - many to find 'moles' leaking secret information
By Martin Robinson
The BBC has secretly monitored staff e-mail accounts over the last two years to find 'moles' accused of leaking confidential information.
A total of 81 employees have had their accounts monitored since 2012 as investigators probed possible fraud, harassment, bribery and confidentiality breaches.
Probes into alleged leaks have more than doubled from four in 2012 to ten in 2013, official figures have revealed.
But the broadcaster would not say what information they believed was being leaked out of the organisation.
BBC bosses have faced crisis after crisis after the crimes of paedophile Jimmy Savile were revealed in 2012, some of them on BBC premises.
This scandal also led to the resignation of former Director General George Entwistle and the furore over his payoff - £450,000 for 54 days in the job.
The secret monitoring of staff accounts is overseen by the BBC Investigation Service.
In total the BBC has confirmed there were a total of 30 occasions in 2012 and another 51 in 2013 when its internal Investigation Service hacked into to staff e-mail accounts to see if there was any wrong doing.
As well as the 14 inquiries about information leaks there have also been 15 cases across the last two years where accounts have been accessed because of fraud allegations.
Four accounts were opened up because of claims of theft, four relating to harassment allegations, one in relation to an assault claim and another one in connection with a bribery inquiry.
There were also a total of 24 cases where the BBC accessed the staff member's e-mails as part of an internal disciplinary case and another four where the police made a formal request for e-mail traffic as part of a criminal investigation.
E-mails were also accessed ten times in relation to the misuse of computers and on three occasions where there were allegations of malicious communications.
Emma Carr, acting director of Big Brother Watch, said: 'There is simply no reason why the BBC should be investigating suspected cases of criminality themselves.
'If the level of suspicion warrants employees emails to be hacked into, then the police should absolutely be involved.
'The fact that the BBC has an entire unit dedicated to investigating employee misconduct is in itself troubling.
The BBC must be explicit that any investigations will be carried out transparently and that mission creep, leading to employees being surveilled for trivial matters, will not be allowed to set in.'
A BBC spokesman said: 'The BBC rarely monitors staff e-mail accounts and only in exceptional circumstances where it is reasonable, necessary and represents a proportionate response.
'Monitoring of email accounts is invariably undertaken in relation to criminal or disciplinary investigations and staff are aware that monitoring can occur.'
- Staff were 'hacked' over claims of fraud, bribery, harassment and leaks
- Critics have said the BBC should not be investigating crimes themselves
By Martin Robinson
The BBC has secretly monitored staff e-mail accounts over the last two years to find 'moles' accused of leaking confidential information.
A total of 81 employees have had their accounts monitored since 2012 as investigators probed possible fraud, harassment, bribery and confidentiality breaches.
Probes into alleged leaks have more than doubled from four in 2012 to ten in 2013, official figures have revealed.
But the broadcaster would not say what information they believed was being leaked out of the organisation.
BBC bosses have faced crisis after crisis after the crimes of paedophile Jimmy Savile were revealed in 2012, some of them on BBC premises.
This scandal also led to the resignation of former Director General George Entwistle and the furore over his payoff - £450,000 for 54 days in the job.
The secret monitoring of staff accounts is overseen by the BBC Investigation Service.
In total the BBC has confirmed there were a total of 30 occasions in 2012 and another 51 in 2013 when its internal Investigation Service hacked into to staff e-mail accounts to see if there was any wrong doing.
As well as the 14 inquiries about information leaks there have also been 15 cases across the last two years where accounts have been accessed because of fraud allegations.
Four accounts were opened up because of claims of theft, four relating to harassment allegations, one in relation to an assault claim and another one in connection with a bribery inquiry.
There were also a total of 24 cases where the BBC accessed the staff member's e-mails as part of an internal disciplinary case and another four where the police made a formal request for e-mail traffic as part of a criminal investigation.
E-mails were also accessed ten times in relation to the misuse of computers and on three occasions where there were allegations of malicious communications.
Emma Carr, acting director of Big Brother Watch, said: 'There is simply no reason why the BBC should be investigating suspected cases of criminality themselves.
'If the level of suspicion warrants employees emails to be hacked into, then the police should absolutely be involved.
'The fact that the BBC has an entire unit dedicated to investigating employee misconduct is in itself troubling.
The BBC must be explicit that any investigations will be carried out transparently and that mission creep, leading to employees being surveilled for trivial matters, will not be allowed to set in.'
A BBC spokesman said: 'The BBC rarely monitors staff e-mail accounts and only in exceptional circumstances where it is reasonable, necessary and represents a proportionate response.
'Monitoring of email accounts is invariably undertaken in relation to criminal or disciplinary investigations and staff are aware that monitoring can occur.'
