Application of Web filtering software.

The provincial government of Ontario is introducing Web filtering software in its offices to guard against abuse of Internet connections. The union that represents most provincial government employees questioned the move, saying it was not consulted and the software could interfere with some employees_ ability to do their jobs. Mary-Lou Daniels, a spokeswoman for the Ontario Management Board Secretariat, the provincial agency responsible for putting in the software, told that Smartfilter, software from Secure Computing of San Jose, Calif., will be installed in government offices across the province. Smartfilter,like several similar programs, is designed to block access to Web sites that contain pornography, hate speech, criminal material, or other questionable content. Users of such packages can adjust the criteria for blocking sites. Katie FitzRandolph, a spokeswoman for the Ontario Public Service Employees_ Union (OPSEU), said what is clearly inappropriate for some provincial employees might be part of a legitimate day_s work for others. Those involved with law enforcement are one example, but there are others such as those working in mental health care, FitzRandolph told Newsbytes. Daniels was unable to confirm whether certain employees whose jobs might require access to otherwise questionable sites would be exempt from the blockage, though there have been reports law-enforcement officials will be exempt.