URBAN THEOLOGY UNIT
Confidentiality, Disclosure & Monitoring
Communications
Issued February 2009
Confidentiality
UTU employees, volunteers, students, managing trustees and other personnel may have
access to and be entrusted with information in respect of the administrative, business and
financial affairs of the organisation, and, of the personal affairs of individuals; all of which is
or may be confidential. Personnel with access to such information are required to maintain
confidentiality, except in the proper course of their duties or civic responsibilities, and/or in
accordance with Clause 2 below, both during or after the period of their association with
UTU, nor divulge to any person whatsoever or otherwise make use of any such confidential
information.
2. Public Interest Disclosure (Whistleblowing)
The Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 (PIDA), protects workers who 'blow the whistle'
about wrongdoing. The Act makes provision about the kinds of disclosures which may be
protected, the circumstances in which such disclosures are protected, and the persons who
may be protected.
Certain kinds of disclosures qualify for protection ("qualifying disclosures"). Qualifying
disclosures are disclosures of information which the worker reasonably believes tend to show
one or more of the following matters is either happening now, took place in the past, or is
likely to happen in the future:
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a criminal offence;
the breach of a legal obligation;
a miscarriage of justice;
a danger to the health or safety of any individual;
damage to the environment; or
deliberate covering up of information tending to show any of the above five matters.
A qualifying disclosure will be a "protected" disclosure provided the worker:
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makes the disclosure in good faith ;
reasonably believes that the information disclosed and any allegation contained in it
are substantially true.
A worker has the right not to be subjected to any detriment by any act, or any deliberate
failure to act, by the employer done on the ground that the worker has made a protected
K Thompson – February 2009
disclosure. This means that any action taken by an employer as a result of a worker making
protected disclosure, e.g. dismissing the whistleblower or making them redundant, is
automatically unfair.
It is UTU’s policy:
 to respond positively to any worker who brings such information to its attention
 to protect any such worker from harassment or other unfair or improper treatment
 to provide all necessary support to any such worker
 to ensure that procedures are in place to enable workers to make such disclosures and
to receive any necessary support
 to investigate and evaluate the reasonableness and validity of the allegations and to
respond in appropriate ways
 to deal with allegation regarded as malicious, trivial or otherwise vexatious through
UTU’s disciplinary procedures
Monitoring
UTU reserves the right to record or monitor communications as permitted by the Regulations
of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 and the Telecommunications (Lawful Business Practice)
(Interception of Communications) Regulations 2000, without consent of the worker or of any
other party to the communication. Such circumstances include:
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recording of business transactions
ensuring compliance with regulatory or self-regulatory guidelines
maintaining the effective operation of the employer’s systems, for example, to prevent
viruses
access business communications e.g. to check e-mail etc when employees are on
holiday or sick
monitoring standards of training and service
prevent or detect unauthorised use of UTU’s communications systems or criminal
activities
ensure UTU’s policies and procedures are followed
Electronic Communications and the Law
The most relevant legislation regulating electronic communications are:
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The Data Protection Act 1998 (Relating to the use of personal information)
The Computer Misuse Act 1990 (Relating to unauthorised access and creation or
distribution of computer viruses)
The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 (which relates to unauthorised copying
often referred to as software piracy)
Breach of any of the above can constitute a criminal offence. Where UTU believes a
criminal offence has taken place, it has a duty to inform the Police. Using UTU’s facilities in
any way to break the law will be considered as gross misconduct under UTU’s Disciplinary
Procedure.
K Thompson – February 2009
K Thompson – February 2009