E-mail Privacy

[Kral]

In article <15110 at ccncsu.ColoState.EDU> conca at handel.cs.colostate.edu (michael vincen conca) writes:
[stuff about when is it legal/ethical to read email].

Here is what our Personnel department says, based upon various legal documents
and privacy seminars she, er, they have attended:

email and files in users directories are treated the same as employees desks.
They may contain "private" stuff, or stuff necessary to company operations.
Like desks, computer files are not the employee's property.  BUT, if the
company (university, etc) gives the employees the impression that it is
private, then goes and looks, an invasion of privacy suit could hold up.

So I publish a memo once or twice a year that says this: files are not private.
We have the right to look at them any time we think it is necessary to carry
out our jobs; especially since we have certain obligations to the net.

But I also tell my employees this: if I ever catch them poking around in other
peoples files without good business reasons, they will be terminated
immediately.  They have more important things to do with there time.

Our legal counsel and our personnel department agree with this policy.


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