The BBC has spied on staff emails more than 200 times in the last three years, Heat Street can disclose.
Thanks to a Freedom of Information response, it turns out the Corporation’s shadowy Internal Investigations Unit has secretly viewed staff email accounts checking for fraud, computer misuse, harassment and leaking BBC information:
Probes have also taken place for suspected assault – there were three incidents in 2013.
There have been three harassment inquiries and a total of 33 investigations into fraud that involved looking at emails.
The Corporation’s response stated: “These investigations will generally involve members of BBC staff, our service partners or third parties whose activity adversely impacts on the BBC.”
This suggests that some emails involving non-BBC staff have also been viewed.
The BBC claims that staff are aware that their emails can be monitored and that it does so only in “exceptional” circumstances.
Some of the snooping relates to disciplinary cases and one probe involved a police inquiry.
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.”