Re: Study finds companies snooping on employee e-mail

In article <2VIOIQ3N38874.1128240741@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
anon@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx says...
Borked Pseudo Mailed wrote:

It's their equipment,
their network, and if they want to monitor every byte of data flowing in,
out, or around it there's nothing morally or legally wrong with that.


If they give the employee the right to use the telephone, the employee
has every reason to suspect that his communications - say to his
doctor's office - are private. Else they provide a payphone where it is
assumed that this is the case. The same principle should apply to email.
Email is essential communication in this era, same as the telephone.


I would never assume that an employer-owned telephone was secure
for private conversations.

And I would never feel entitled to have an employer provide a
payphone. Even if there was one, I would still avoid discussing
anything private anywhere at the employer's premises. Plenty of
co-workers are nosy, and like to gossip ("Hey, I just overheard
Joe talking on the payphone about a medical/legal/personal
problem.")

Email? My assumption is that it would be monitored even more
closely than the phone, with automated alerts for keywords,
sending to inappropriate domains (e.g. a competitor), excessive
usage (including CC'ing jokes and chain letters,) or
sending/receiving suspicious attachments, etc, etc.

Same assumption that the sysadmin will monitor Web browsing, and
will be looking for anyone installing P2P software, or stashing
warez and pr0n on the company network.


If you don't like that, imagine that YOU were the employer (and
thus the owner of that equipment), and were losing money from
wasted time and resources.

Or that YOU were facing a sexual harassment lawsuit due to an
employee emailing lewd jokes or photos around the office.

Or that YOU were trying to figure out how your competitor
obtained inside information about your company.

Or imagine that the employer involved is a gubmint agency, and
employees are misusing equipment bought with YOUR tax money. A
couple of years ago, a bunch of NZ Police officers got caught
downloading, storing, and emailing large amounts of pr0n
(including some which was borderline illegal), so that they could
sit around wanking off, instead of doing their jobs. Nobody got
fired, or even seriously disciplined.


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