Do employees have the right to expect privacy in the workplace?
No, say most industry experts. When it comes to using the company network, company computers, the corporate email system, even the company phone system, everything that crosses those connections is company information. If an employee is shopping online during his lunch break, it’s the company’s business. If another employee is sending an email to his college roommate, the company has the right to read it. If a worker is checking her personal HotMail account, the company even has a right to read that since she’s checking it over the corporate network and on the corporate computer. “The law says that there should be no expectation of privacy in electronic documents and email,” says Vincent Schiavone, president of Philadelphia-based ePrivacy Group Inc. “No employee should expect privacy in the workplace. The companies have a requirement to maintain a safe workplace. That’s hard to do. They have a requirement to have adequate security on the system.” But they also have a requirement to set
No, say most industry experts. When it comes to using the company network, company computers, the corporate email system, even the company phone system, everything that crosses those connections is company information. If an employee is shopping online during his lunch break, it’s the company’s business. If another employee is sending an email to his college roommate, the company has the right to read it. If a worker is checking her personal HotMail account, the company even has a right to read that since she’s checking it over the corporate network and on the corporate computer. “The law says that there should be no expectation of privacy in electronic documents and email,” says Vincent Schiavone, president of Philadelphia-based ePrivacy Group Inc. “No employee should expect privacy in the workplace. The companies have a requirement to maintain a safe workplace. That’s hard to do. They have a requirement to have adequate security on the system.” But they also have a requirement to set
