The UK's privacy watchdog, the Information Commissioner, is producing stringent codes of practice governing how much scrutiny companies can carry out on private communications.

Many companies routinely monitor employees' e-mail and net use to filter out spam, detect viruses and monitor customer service.

But they could find themselves in legal hot water if they overdo it. The new code will try to set clear limits.

Do your bosses monitor your e-mails? How far should they be allowed to go?

This debate was Your Choice. Every day until 29 November we are giving you the chance to help us set the debate agenda. Look out of this button on stories in our Technology Front Page:

Simply click on it and vote for the stories you want to debate. Want to know more about the Your Choice experiment. Click here.

This debate is now closed. A selection of your e-mails is published below.

A routine check revealed an employee was defrauding the company

Anonymous, South Africa

We monitor e-mail communication between clients and employees as a quality control measure. Mail that is obviously private is not examined. During a routine check on such e-mail, a message that looked like client to employee mail revealed that an employee was defrauding the company by performing work with direct payment to their private bank account.
Anonymous, South Africa

I can understand the viewpoint of the employers, but being able to read my e-mail or monitor my net usage is an invasion of privacy. Would they then have the right to look over my shoulder as I write my shopping list, or read my prescription?
Andy, UK

When the business provides a facility for e-mail, this is for business use only unless the company explicitly states otherwise. Sending an e-mail from a business account is akin to writing a letter on company headed paper. Users who do so, should expect no privacy and should be held liable for the contents of the message by their managers.
Stuart King, England

I spend 8am to 6pm in this office, and I think I am entitled to make a few calls or send personal e-mails, they are my business. I don't waste a great deal of time doing this, considering the vast amount of time I spend here I have no option but to use their phone and e-mail. As such I don't think they have a right to snoop on it...
Richard, London, UK

It is their equipment and they have a right to impose whatever rules they choose

Ray, UK

There is no justification for using employers' systems then expecting the right to keep secret what you've done. There's simply no logic to such an expectation. I do think most employers' disciplinary policies for unapproved internet use are unjustified - but it is their equipment and they have a right to impose whatever rules they choose, no matter how pointless. Accept it.
Ray, UK

I'm a systems administrator for my employer, and it is absolutely necessary to carry out some scanning of the e-mail to block viruses and porn. I just wish we could block spam more effectively! However, if both parties act sensibly, then the employer will not invade privacy and the employee will not abuse the perk of being able to send personal email. Everyone benefits.
Steve, UK

Filtering for spam, virus, trojans and worms and screening web addresses against a blacklist (porn etc) is OK. It helps everyone in the organisation if they can avoid catching a virus. It saves everyone time if they can eliminate some of the spam. But they shouldn't go beyond that. They're not allowed to open my private snail mail, they shouldn't be allowed to open private e-mail. On the other hand, I think it is fair that they can insist on employees not using company equipment for personal use, personal gain etc. I just hope the Information Commissioner sees it that way!
Dougie Lawson, UK

As a systems administrator I don't have a problem with people using e-mail etc for personal purposes as long as it doesn't get out of hand. You have to treat employees as adults. If my manager can get his wife and daughter to call our IT support for help then I think the staff here are perfectly allowed to surf and email.
Anon, UK

E-mails are a cheaper method of communication so I'm encouraging it

Christine, UK

I'm a manager and I received an e-mail from the powers that be telling me that the staff were using company email for personal reasons and that I was to tell them off. I refused to do this on the grounds that Hotmail and similar services were cut off due to the virus risk. It's been my observation that staff spend a lot less time writing personal e-mails than they did making personal phone calls. E-mails are also a much cheaper method of communication so I'm in fact encouraging it.
Christine, UK

Everything you do on your computer leaves a trace of what programmes you have used and what internet sites you have been to. System administrators can collect this information and present it to the managers as an overall usage of e-mail and internet surfing. It can be done discreetly without "watching" anyone or it can be done targeted to a person or persons to gather detail information of activities. As long as there is a reasonable limit on this usage there is no cause for alarm but when something or someone sticks out they will be dealt with. No company has the time or resources to sit and watch what everybody does every minute of the day.
John, Sweden

I have no problem with bosses monitoring e-mails. If one is sending personal ones, then one is simply not working - resulting in colleagues having to do more than their fair share of work. I do send the occasional personal e-mail, which 99.99% of bosses don't mind, but I don't abuse it. However, on the other side of the coin, if a manager spends all day reading e-mails, then he or she must assess their own workload!
Steve Fricker, UK

There is too much fiddling and political correctness

Steve T, UK

Surely, in work time any communication should be about business matters? If e-mail and telephone calls are abused, at a cost to the business, or, in the case of e-mail, result in a liability to the business, then surely the employer has a right to check e-mails? I believe employers are entitled to check any and all e-mails to employees, and to prevent abuse of communications. After all, employees can come and go, but the business is a long term prospect. There is too much fiddling and political correctness in today's world, and it is time people made a stand against it!
Steve T, UK

When I come into work I use a computer that has been paid for by my company, the telephone lines and software that I use are all paid for by my company. The company that I work for does monitor e-mails and net use and considering that it is their property I think that's fine. If a person is unable to use facilities they are provided with sensibly then they will only get what they deserve.
Max, England

The value of a trusted workforce with a little leeway to use the company's IT can be measured positively against the bottom line - companies that screw the lid on too tight lose out in the end, with either high staff turnover or demotivated staff.
Gerry, UK

As long as companies are legally liable for what their employees write in their e-mails then the employers have every right to monitor those emails.
Stephen, England

There's nothing worse than your system being used as a stick to hit people with

Anon, UK

I administer a corporate e-mail system with 3,000 employees and have had moral problems in the past when asked to investigate e-mails. The law says that all e-mails on the system are owned by the organisation, yet I believe a more respectful attitude should be taken. There's nothing worse than your system being used as a stick to hit people with.
Anon, UK

I attend commercial college where the pupils are monitored all the time. Our e-mail account, the web and our attendance is regularly monitored. I think there should be an international code which sets clear limits. For example companies should not be allowed to install programs to monitor the web.
Chris, Austria

My employer pays for the bandwidth, and my employer's domain name is appended to my e-mail address, so if they want to place restrictions on what I do with their resources while they are paying me, that seems like fair game. I'm not opposed to some kind of limits on what information can be stored, and to what extent private communications can be monitored, but in the end it's not my time or my computer.
Guy Chapman, UK

It's amazing so many think they are company property

David, UK

Contrary to what many say about my employer providing the equipment, bandwidth, and so forth, those provisions are sustained by the work I do for the company. I never see part of the wealth I create, as it goes into fatcat salaries and corporate profit. So any employer who further undermines my dignity and authority will quickly find themselves filling a vacancy. It's amazing so many think they and their time are company property, rather than the other way round.
David, UK

As a system administrator in a technology college, the new guidelines prevent random monitoring of student and in fact all accounts. We don't have much trouble here from viruses, pornography and e-mail bullying BUT, we put that down to our careful policing of the network. If you are not abusing a company's e-mail then why worry about monitoring?
Paul Camies, UK

No one's watching me, that's why I can afford to spend hours on this Talking Point leaving messages all about the world's latest issues and... oh, hang on a minute, I've just been sacked...
Ian, UK