I worked for twenty years for Large Unnamed Airplane Manufacturer in Seattle (use your imagination). In their case, they had been sued innumerable times for breach of privacy, but in virtually every case, their right to monitor employee communications was upheld. The computers all had a logon warning that they were company property and any data on them was subject to monitoring. Bags were subject to search by Security at any time. It was understood that telephone conversations could be monitored at any time by a supervisor, particularly in help desk areas. They had hidden cameras all over the place. The one instance I know of where they did lose such a case was in the matter of hidden cameras in the restrooms. But everywhere else there, you pretty much assumed anything you typed, said, did, was monitored.
Where I am now, they have the same rights (spelled out in the AUPs that the users don't read before they sign), but they're more leery of exercising them. We pretty much only monitor a user's communication in conjunction with our Security department, when there's been an actual complaint or suspicion of wrongdoing (misuse of company property, surfing porn, inappropriate behavior with students, etc.). I would never agree to let anyone, including a supervisor, monitor someone else's mail simply because they wanted to see what they were sending and receiving; they would have to approach me through the appropriate chain of command (HR and Security) and tell me what, specifically, we were looking for. Then Security and I would do the monitoring, NOT the supervisor in question. The whole idea is to prevent this being used for personal vendettas. _________________________________________________________________ List posting FAQ: http://www.swinc.com/resource/exch_faq.htm Web Interface: http://intm-dl.sparklist.com/cgi-bin/lyris.pl?enter=exchange&text_mode=&lang=english To unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Exchange List admin: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
