The Federal Court has determined that it is up to individual judges to decide whether Twitter may be used to cover court cases.

Reporting court cases on Twitter became evident recently when journalists from ZDNet.com and The Australian both used Twitter to cover the much-publicised case between iiNet and the entertainment industry. For those of you unaware, this is a massive copyright case, which is currently taking place.

Justice Cowdroy is the presiding judge in the iiNet case and he was fully aware that the case before him was being covered from his court via Twitter. He ruled that such conduct was allowed in his court. Justice Cowdroy stated, “On the basis that Twittering does not distract or interfere with the conduct of my court, I personally have no objection to its use.”

Justice Cowdroy continued by saying “I believe play pokies online that the public has a legitimate right to be fully informed of proceedings, particularly proceedings such as (the iiNet case) which have attracted considerable public interest. Twittering can serve to inform the public in a more speedy and comprehensive manner than may be possible through traditional media coverage.”

Is this an early sign of the direction that our courts are headed?

Social media is widely accepted as being an important tool for corporate and business management. For the uninitiated, social media refers to a category of websites, which are based on user-generated content. Today, the more prominent social media tools are Facebook, Twitter, Wikipedia and MySpace. However, social media also includes other forms of blogs, forums and interactive components of websites.

In the commercial sphere, social media offers new opportunities for businesses to interact with customers and communities who share similar interests. However, use of social media in the workplace can be a massive drain on resources. Therefore, the issue becomes a question of whether to allow employees to use social media in work hours, or to ban it altogether. It is important for your workers to also have the necessary life insurance cover, you can easily obtain a life insurance comparison here.

Social media in the workplace

Use of social media can be addictive, time consuming and sometimes, a drain on employer resources. Consequently, valuable business resources are possibly being wasted by ungoverned use of social media by your employees. In order to manage your employee’s use of social media in your workplace, we recommend that you implement a Social Media Policy. A Social Media Policy may ensure that employees are responsible for:

• ensuring that all information which they disclose is factually correct;
• only disclosing information which is publically available at the time of disclosure;
• not displaying any material which is obscene, threatening, discriminatory or defamatory toward another person or entity, including contractors, partners or competitors of your business;
• not displaying any material which has the capability of in any way bringing into disrepute your business, its employees, contractors or partners; and
• not disclosing any personal or sensitive information belonging to another person and that they comply with your business’s privacy policy at all times.

Alternately, you may wish to forbid any use of social media during work hours or through the use of resources owned by your business. However, regardless of your preferred view, a specifically drafted policy will assist you in achieving your objective.

What if a breach of the Social Media Policy takes place?

An employee who breaches the Social Media Policy may be subjected to disciplinary action. Such action may include an employee being compelled to remove or edit any content, which is in violation of the Social Media Policy.

Conclusion

To reduce the risk of employees wasting your business resources due to their excessive use of social media, you should consider implementing a specifically drafted Social Media Policy. This will ensure that the value of your business resources is being maximised and that a strong online business reputation is preserved.

So, you think you can market?

So, you have a great idea for a marketing campaign. Now, all you need to do is get on to your designer and then roll it out, right?  Wrong – let me explain why.

There are many things to consider when launching a new marketing hair extensions campaign such as your target market and the message which you wish to convey. However, you must also consider whether your marketing material will breach any laws or third party rights. Your use of text, images, photographs, testimonials, competitions or jingles to market your goods and services can inadvertently place you at risk of breaching the law.

What laws must you comply with?

There are many areas of law, which you must consider and comply with before launching your marketing campaign. These areas include the Trade Practices Act, the Trade Marks Act and the Copyright Act. If part of your marketing campaign involves sending electronic messages of a commercial nature, then you must also comply with the Spam Act. To comply with the Spam Act, you must ensure that:

• prior to sending a commercial message, you can establish that you have obtained consent from the intended recipient of the message;
• you accurately identify yourself or your organisation as the authorised sender of the message; and
• the message contains a functional ‘unsubscribe’ facility.

What are the consequences for breaches?

The consequences for breaching the law vary, depending on your conduct and which laws have been breached. For example, a breach of the Trade Marks Act or Copyright Act may result in injunctive relief for a complainant and/or an order for you to account for any profits derived from that breach. A breach of the Trade Practices Act can result in enforceable undertakings, refunds, damages, injunctions or corrective advertising.

Penalties for breaches of the Spam Act are on the rise. In January 2009, the Australian Communications and Media Association (ACMA) took action outside the Court system for a breach of the Spam Act when it issued Optus with two infringement notices totalling $110,000. In receiving the notices, Optus allegedly sent SMS messages to 20,000 of its mobile customers, without accurately identifying itself as being the sender of the messages.  Optus listed the sender as being ‘966’ but according to ACMA, Optus assumed that its customers would draw a parallel between ‘966’ and ‘ZOO’ (‘966’ spells ‘zoo’ on a phone key pad) and could therefore accurately identify the sender.  ACMA did not agree and considered that such an identification technique was insufficient.

Conclusion

To reduce the risk associated with your marketing campaign, you should instruct us to review your marketing material and provide you with a full clearance before launching your new campaign. This will ensure that you are not unnecessarily exposing your business to risk and the severe penalties, which may be imposed upon you.

One often overlooked component of the employee-employer relationship is the employees right of privacy. In many instances the employer may unknowingly violate the employees’ right of privacy and thereby run the risk of acting in breach of Australian law.

The instances and types of privacy breaches in the workplace will vary depending on the nature of the industry, the type of services that the employee provides and the employers’ access to personal information about the employee. Some common workplace privacy breaches include:

• Performance monitoring;
• Telephone monitoring;
• Geographical monitoring (such as the use of GPS);
• Email and Internet monitoring;
• Drug testing; and
• Genetic testing.

The right of privacy
Privacy is a fundamental human right recognised in several international instruments, such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The starting point of any discussion of employee privacy must be the realisation that employees do not totally abandon this human right when entering the workplace. In other words, employers must respect their employees’ right of privacy.

The relevant legislation
Employers have to abide by a patchwork of privacy-related legislation, and the applicable law depends on which State (or Territory) the employer is based in. Some of the key pieces of legislation an employer must consider are:

• Privacy Act 1988 (Cth);
• Workplace Surveillance Act 2005 (NSW);
• Surveillance Devices (Workplace Privacy) Act 2006 (Vic); and
• Surveillance Devices Act 1998 (WA).

Workplace privacy under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth)
Being a federal Act, the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) is applicable Australia-wide. It outlines ten National Privacy Principles (NPPs) regulating matters such as:

• The collection of personal information;
• The use and disclosure of personal information;
• Data quality and security;
• Openness, access and correction;
• Identifiers and anonymity; and
• Trans-border data flow.

It also has special rules regulating so-called sensitive information (NPP 10).

Importantly, the Privacy Act contains several exemptions, one of which is an exemption for employee records (s. 7B(3)). However, this exemption only applies to an act done, or practice engaged in, by an employer if the act or practice is directly related to: (a) a current or former employment relationship between the employer and the individual; or (b) an employee record that relates to the individual and that is held by the employer. Consequently, information about prospective employees is not exempt.

Further, the term employee records is given a rather limited interpretation, and is stated to mean a record of personal information relating to the employment of the employee. The Privacy Act lists a range of examples of what it considers to fall within this definition, including personal information relating to:

• the engagement, training, disciplining or resignation of the employee;
• the termination of the employment of the employee;
• the terms and conditions of employment of the employee;
• the employee’s personal and emergency contact details;
• the employee’s performance or conduct;
• the employee’s hours of employment;
• the employee’s salary or wages;
• the employee’s membership of a professional or trade association;
• the employee’s trade union membership;
• the employee’s recreation, long service, sick, personal, maternity, paternity or other leave; and
• the employee’s taxation, banking or superannuation affairs.

Taking account of the nature of these examples, and the wording “personal information relating to the employment of the employee”, it seems clear that information, such as, the content of an employees’ private e-mails and the details of what web-sites an employee has visited do not fall within the exemption for employee records, and that the Privacy Act consequently applies to such information. Indeed, as the content of the private e-mails, as well as the details of what web-sites an employee has visited, may amount to sensitive information, the stricter rules of NPP 10 may apply to how an employer deals with such information.

What can employers do to ensure they comply with the relevant privacy laws?
There are several steps employers can take to ensure that they comply with the applicable privacy law.  Perhaps most importantly, employers should frequently assess and re-assess their practice of, for example, collection, use and disclosure of personal information. Employers should also ensure that the information they collect about their employees contains a minimum of personal information. Finally, employers should have clear privacy policies informing their employees about matters such as:

• The circumstances under which personal information is collected;
• How such information is used;
• Who within the organisation can access that information;
• How long such information will be kept;
• The extent to, and circumstances under,  which such information is disclosed; and
• The employees’ right to access and correct such information.

Conclusion
An organisation that is found to have breached privacy laws may find itself in a position where it not only has to pay the aggrieved party a significant amount of damages, but also suffers irreparable harm due to negative publicity and the public’s loss of confidence in its ability to properly deal with and maintain their personal and private information.

Prudent business practice suggests that organisations should undergo regular privacy audits in order to ensure compliance with the applicable privacy laws.

The Spam Act 2003 (the “Act”) was enacted in 2004 with the view of combating the ever-increasing amount of “spam”. But what exactly is “spam”? Put simply, “spam” is junk mail which is in electronic form. Under the Act, a person is prohibited from sending without consent, an electronic message to another person, when that message contains an invitation to do business. How do I know if I have obtained consent?

Whether or not you have obtained the required consent is pivotal when determining whether the Act has been breached or not. Establishing whether or not consent has been given is not always straightforward. Consent may be given either expressly or by inference. Express consent is typically given by subscription to a newsletter, completing a form, ticking a form or by verbal communication. Less obviously, inferred consent may be established through an existing relationship or through publication of a work-related Email address in a conspicuous location.

Does spam only relate to Emails?

No. Under the Act, spam may be messages sent via electronic mail (Email), Short Message Service (SMS), Multimedia Message Service (MMS) or Instant Messaging Services. The Act in its current form does not prohibit voice telemarketing, internet pop-ups or facsimile messages and therefore, these forms of communication appear to be acceptable.

It should be noted that Government bodies, non-government organisations, registered political parties, charities, religious organisations and educational institutions are partially exempt from the Act.

How do I comply with the Act?

If through your business you communicate with others via electronic messages, you must ensure that:

• you can establish that you have obtained consent to do so from the recipient of the message;
• you accurately identify yourself or your organisation as the authorised sender of the message; and
• the message contains an ‘unsubscribe’ facility. Online pokies Australia facebook page

Are there penalties for sending spam?

If you breach the provisions of the Act, you may be penalised by way of a civil fine or injunction, but it may be more likely in the initial instances to receive a formal warning from the Australian Communications and Media Authority (“ACMA”). However, Australia has seen substantial monetary penalties be ordered and orders for the forfeiture of profits and compensation imposed for breaches of the Act.

Conclusion

As a matter of risk minimisation, take the time to ensure that your business practices comply with the Act. A breach of the Act can potentially cripple your business, or at least, lead to substantial damage to your reputation in the marketplace. You can visit this online pokies Australia facebook page for more info.