Private Life In A Digital World
“What are the legal boundaries of an employee’s privacy in this interconnected, electronic-communication age, one in which thoughts and ideas that would have been spoken personally and privately in ages past are now instantly text-messaged to friend and family via hand-held, computer-assisted electronic devices?” - Judge Stephen Larson, Federal District Court, Riverside CA
via Adam Liptak www.nytimes.com
Are private text messages on company-owned pagers safe from search? What are the limits of corporate access? Are we allowed to be private citizens if we are employed? Can we have digital secrets?
Update 10am 15 Dec 09:
Steven Baker writes at Numerati about this same case:
Further, even if the Supreme Court reviews this case and rules for the privacy of the individual, continue to assume that employers will monitor this information. It’s simply too valuable to ignore.
Look at it this way. Companies are busy defending themselves and
their networks. They’re sifting through emails looking for
spam, leaks of insider information, and signs of sexual harassment.
Google’s Postini unit does this type of analysis. What’s more, for
compliance with federal laws and security regulations, companies must
archive communications. And they can be sued if signs of malfeasance are coursing through their networks unnoticed.
So they’re supposed to carry out all of this analysis and then turn a
blind eye to allegedly sexually explicit messages sent from a
company-issued machine? It’s not going to happen. We’re under all kinds
of questionable surveillance in the rest of our lives. Companies like
Acxiom and LexisNexis maintain dossiers on us. Government techno-spies
have been analyzing e-mail, Web surfing and phone communications since
9/11.
But surveillance in the work place? In my view, that comes with the job. As I say, maybe I’m jaded.
But if a ‘workplace’ is defined as digital devices that we carry at all times, and use in a variety of ways — both for work and personal purposes — then the courts are likely to rule in a way that will limit companies’ powers to monitor our every word or action.
It must be possible to have a personal life, and to be involved in activities that are legal even if unacceptable to corporate management.
