-Caveat Lector- This is funny as hell!: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Source: http://news.ft.com/ft/gx.cgi/ftc?pagename=View&c=Article&cid=FT3APY18BQC&live=true&tagid=ZZZOMSJK30C&subheading=US US employees find no right to privacy in cyberspace American courts are endorsing the monitoring of workers, says Patti Waldmeir Published: August 12 2001 20:20GMT | Last Updated: August 13 2001 15:24GMT US courts have a message for American employees. To borrow a phrase from Scott McNealy, the chairman of Sun Microsystems: "You have zero privacy. Get over it." Worried by productivity losses in a failing economy, the leaking of trade secrets and lawsuits for discrimination, employers are doing more to monitor the online behaviour of employees. And the law is proving no obstacle, lawyers attending the annual American Bar Association conference in Chicago were told last week. Courts are endorsing even the most extreme invasions of employee privacy, ruling that employees have no reason to expect privacy when using a work computer, even if some personal use has been sanctioned by their boss. Technology is rapidly out-pacing the law in this area; the privacy rights of American employees are being determined not by courts but by software, privacy activists say. But now that technology has begun to touch the courts themselves, some judges are speaking out. Last week, the chief judge of the country's leading technology court, the Ninth Circuit US Court of Appeals in California, confirmed that a group of judges from that court is protesting at the monitoring of their own online activities. In May, some senior Ninth Circuit judges ordered their staff to disable software used to monitor the computers of about 10,000 judges and federal employees. A panel of senior judges is to discuss the issue next month. One of the California judges claims such monitoring violates the federal wiretap statute. But technology and employment law experts say almost no court agrees with him. "It's astonishing the way the courts have deferred to employers," says Stewart Baker, a cyber-law expert who was former general counsel of the US National Security Agency. Even when employers have promised not to monitor online behaviour or offered to give the employee tools to protect personal communications, such as encryption and passwords, courts have still upheld their right to snoop. According to a survey by the American Management Association, the primary reason for the intrusion is fear of lawsuits. Employers face huge potential liability if they fail to police networks for racial or sexual jokes, or for sexual harassment. An AMA survey released this year showed that three-quarters of US businesses electronically monitor employee communications. This week's survey shows why: among employers who monitor, 68 per cent said legal liability was the primary reason. Employers are finding it cheap and easy to snoop - and costly not to. But the price is paid in employee privacy, civil liberties advocates say. So long as the employer owns the network, case law is on his side. Mr Baker cites a recent case from Texas where a Microsoft employee sued the corporation for breaking into his "personal store" of computer files, arguing that by allowing him to create this "store" of password-protected personal files Microsoft created an expectation of privacy. The court disagreed, finding that the files were "an inherent part of the office environment". Employees could secure their personal belongings in a real-world locker, using their own lock, the court found. But they could not do the equivalent on a network owned by their employer. ABA legal experts say employers should still protect themselves by seeking the consent of employees. And if a worker will not consent? "In the US? I'd fire him," says Mr Baker. However, he says this approach might not work outside America, and especially in some European countries with more stringent employee privacy laws. But even in the US, ABA legal experts say, employees may be able to fight back by challenging not the monitoring, but the monitors. If monitors go beyond the bounds of propriety, they may open a new frontier of corporate liability. In the past, says Mr Baker, employees have succeeded in challenging monitoring in specific circumstances, such as security guards snooping on lavatories. Slowly, the conventional wisdom is being challenged. Recently, a senior federal judge in Minnesota argued that searches of computers should be handled like other legal searches: companies should have probable cause to snoop, searches should be limited in scope and employees should get notice and the right to be present. But for the moment that remains a minority view. In technology and in law, courts and employers are saying workers have no privacy. "Get over it." Edward ><+> "The desire to rule is the mother of heresies." ~ St. John Chrysostom http://www.global-connector.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html";>Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/";>ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
