Your Boss is now your Big Brother.

[formercia]

http://www.myfoxny.com/myfox/pages/Business/Detail?contentId=1652817&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=4.1.1

New Rules Make Firms Track E-Mails, IMs
Last Edited: Friday, 01 Dec 2006, 12:32 AM EST
Created: Friday, 01 Dec 2006, 12:32 AM EST
WASHINGTON -- U.S. companies will need to keep track of all the e-mails, instant messages and other electronic documents generated by their employees thanks to new federal rules that go into effect Friday, legal experts say.



The rules, approved by the Supreme Court in April, require companies and other entities involved in federal litigation to produce "electronically stored information" as part of the discovery process, when evidence is shared by both sides before a trial.




Are we having fun yet? :evilgrin:

[dmoded]

1. I'd imagine they already are

Any boss curious would install that software on client pc's afterhours, 2-3 years ago. Now that it' become official, i guess you can expect them to do it infront of your eyes so they don't have to stay late, lol.

like they say about Vegas, what belongs at home, stays at home?

-dm

[Kelly Rupert]

2. Well, anything you produce on a company-owned computer

that travels through company networks shouldn't really be invisible to the company. Your private communication belongs at home on your private computer.

[dubykc]

3. Alost all companies with even a remote possibility of federal litigation have been ...

monitoring electronic correspondences for years.

[Epiphany4z]

4. it would be nice if

that was all my husbands company did. They have a camera pointed at him and watch him from the main office.. on the net all day long. He doesn't handle money or anything like that...they are watching to see if he takes a cig break or how long he is in the bathroom. It is just the creepiest thing..

[Coyote_Bandit]

5. Six years ago

I worked for a large multinational. We were told that every keystroke on our computer was recorded as was every phone call. It was completely unobtrusive. Since there were no indications of surveillance I have always assumed since that other employers did likewise.

[bleedingheart]

6. doesn't matter to me...I do little personal correspondence with work email

and the only stuff I send is...


"hey honey..pick up the kids from daycare and pick up some milk"...

[melm00se]

7. your work PC

isn't yours. You should have no expectation of privacy on that machine.

As to putting something on the PC to monitor? nope: emails go via a server and all those are logged and copies exist and then are backed up during the normal backup process.

This law is a double edged sword: it forces corporations to keep copies of electronic files and turn them over when sued but it also can haunt the individual employee. Which is more important? tough call

[elehhhhna]

8. This legislation is a direct slap to HAL/KBR, etc., who want to

hide every electronic correspondence they have from Fed subpeonas, by claiming they delete EVERYTHING periodically as standard practice---which is, btw, a lie.

Don't do anything on the company's system that you don't want seen in court.

[Rosemary2205]

9. My company has done this for years

I have no problem with it. An office PC is for business only.

[TahitiNut]

10. I wouldn't call this "Big Brother" - it's THEIR email system.

I'd call it "Big Brother" if they monitored MY PERSONAL EMAIL using my own Email ISP from MY computer using MY Internet Access. When I'm using the systems and services provided by my employer, I DON'T presume it's "private" or "personal".

It's far, far more "BIg Brother" when they tell me I can't smoke or drink or whatever ON MY PERSONAL TIME and AT HOME.