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isDoes an employer have the right to view employee emails on company computers?
This question has been raised many times in countless offices, but no final, definitive answer has been established.
Regardless of legality, personal data on public servers should not be assumed to remain private.
One issue is currently getting media attention, but it’s not uncommon and is a good example of the problem and why all workers should be aware of the precautions.
An employee of the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office has filed a complaint alleging that the City Attorney’s Office searched the emails of employees who reported or commented on issues within the department. While the allegations have not been confirmed to be true, the case has raised questions and concerns that go far beyond the department.
After all, almost everyone who works on a company computer does it. They often use their company accounts to send and receive personal emails. They check social media accounts and view non-work-related information. It’s convenient, and people usually do it without thinking about fraud or the consequences.
Maybe we should.
In 2010, the Supreme Court ruled that the police chief in Ontario, California, had the right to search the records of employees’ work pagers to see if they were being used improperly. In other cases, employers have asserted the right to check e-mail sent to employees on vacation to see if there were any work-related messages that needed to be addressed in the employee’s absence.
However, we all need to remember that in many cases, employers can conduct searches, whether or not they have the legal right to do so.
Most businesses connect their computers to a common server or give each computer a unique address to access those computers and all the programs stored on them. This is not only used to facilitate communication between the various computers, but also to run security software, fight viruses, and update programs. Typically, most of these tasks are automated, programmed tasks that are performed periodically without the involvement of management or the knowledge of employees.
They have a right to do so: after all, those resources typically belong to the company, not the individual worker.
Sure, most employers are reasonable and realize that employees sometimes use company computers for personal purposes. As long as employees don’t abuse the privileges and perform their job duties, they’re likely to leave them alone. Plus, most managers have their own jobs and don’t have the time or desire to snoop on employee computers and accounts.
Unfortunately, some employees aren’t so lucky and their managers may scan their employees’ computers and stop them if they find any intriguing email subject lines or file names.
Whether administrator access is legal or ethical may never be fully resolved. But it’s worth remembering that whether administrators have the right to see what’s on our computers or not, they have the ability to see. And the primary obligation to keep sensitive information from falling into the wrong hands rests with each user, not with administrators or the company.
