Is there Reasonable Expectation of Privacy or Confidentiality on Employer-Furnished Laptops?
Martha L. Arias, IBLS Director Monday, January 14, 2008 “An employee has no expectation in workplace computer files where company guidelines and policy explicitly inform the employee that no expectation of privacy exists.” This is a well settled principle of law held in Muick v. Glenayre Elecs, 280 F.3d 741, 743 (7th Cir. 2002) and cited by the 2nd, 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th Circuit Courts. Yet, this principle does not utterly elucidate the legal issues raised by the employer/employee rights on company-owned laptops. This article briefly illustrates on the difference between private employee’s (public employees are subject to different rules) assertion of privacy and confidentiality rights on files he saves in employer-furnished laptops in the United States. An employee may assert, depending on the facts of his case, a privacy and/or confidentiality claim on documents he saves in his employer-furnished laptop. It is important to note that these assertions usually come when the employer d
