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Employees May Have Privacy Rights In Their Personal Emails Sent On Company Computers

Most employees just accept the fact that their employer can access any content that is on a company computer, including employees’ personal emails and other personal information. But, is that the law? A growing number of courts are recognizing that employees have some expectation of privacy with respect to their personal content on company computers. Some recent decisions have held that employers do not own and cannot access their employees’ personal emails not even when those emails were sent on a company computer.

Marina Stengart v. Loving Care Agency, Inc. is a workplace privacy case that was decided on June 26, 2009. Marina Stengart worked as an Executive Director of Nursing at Loving Care Agency, Inc. Loving Care provided Stengart with a company computer and an email address to accomplish her work duties. Loving Care had an electronic communications policy which stated that emails, internet use and computer files are considered the company’s property and “are not to be considered private or personal to any individual employee.” The policy also stated that the company had “the right to review, audit, intercept, access, and disclose all matters on the company’s media systems and services at any time, with or without notice.”

Stengart used her company computer to email her attorneys about filing a discrimination lawsuit against Loving Care. But, Stengart did not use her company email address. She emailed her attorneys with her personal, password protected Yahoo email account while using her company computer. Stengart resigned from her employment and sued Loving Care for discrimination. Loving Care then searched Stengart’s company computer and, pursuant to its electronic communications policy, read the emails Stengart exchanged with her attorneys. Stengart angered by Loving Care’s reading of her personal emails, asked the Court to decide if Loving Care had the right under its electronic communications policy to read emails she sent to her attorneys through her personal email account on her company computer.

The Stengart Court rejected the notion that an employee’s personal emails become company property simply because the company owns the computer, claiming that a company computer in this setting is little more than a file cabinet: “Property rights are no less offended when an employer examines documents stored on a computer as when an employer rifles through a folder containing an employee’s private papers or reaches in and examines the contents of an employee’s pockets; indeed, even when a legitimate business purpose could support such a search, we can envision no valid precept of property law that would convert the employer’s interest in determining what is in those locations with a right to own the contents of the employee’s folder of private papers or the contents of his pocket.” The Court ruled against Loving Care, concluding that an employer cannot “transform all private communications into company property — merely because the company owned the computer used to make the private communications or used to access such private information during work hours.”

Marina Stengart asked the Court if her employer had the right to view her personal emails. Bonnie Van Alstyne took the workplace privacy notion a step further when she sued her former employer for accessing her personal emails. Bonnie Van Alstyne worked as a Vice President at Electronic Scriptorium Limited, a small data conversion company owned and operated by Edward Leonard. Van Alstyne had a company email account, but she occasionally used her personal AOL email account to conduct business. Van Alstyne’s employment was terminated and she filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against the company. During the discovery process, Van Alstyne learned that Edward Leonard accessed her personal email account both during and after her employment. Leonard produced 258 emails he had printed from Van Alstyne’s personal email account.

Van Alstyne filed a separate lawsuit against Leonard, Bonnie Van Alstyne v. Electronic Scriptorium Limited, et al. Her lawsuit alleged that Leonard violated the Stored Communications Act when he accessed her personal email account and viewed her emails. The Stored Communications Act creates criminal and civil liability for any individual who “intentionally accesses without authorization a facility through which an electronic communication service is provided” or “intentionally exceeds an authorization to access that facility” and “obtains, alters, or prevents authorized access to a wire or electronic communication while it is in electronic storage in such system.” In other words, the Stored Communication Act prohibits an individual from, among other things, intentionally accessing other people’s stored emails, voicemails, text messages, etc. without permission. A jury found that Leonard violated the Stored Communications Act and awarded Van Alstyne $250,000 in compensatory and punitive damages and more than $136,000 in attorneys fees and costs.

The law is changing. Courts are recognizing that employees have a right to privacy in their personal emails even when those emails are sent on company computers and even when company policy says otherwise. But, both Marina Stengart’s and Bonnie Van Alstyne’s employers read their personal emails which gave their employers valuable defensive information and severely prejudiced Stengart and Van Alstyne in their pending lawsuits. A lawsuit cannot unring that bell. And, Stengart and Van Alstyne were forced into lengthy, costly legal battles to enforce their privacy rights. It is encouraging that courts are recognizing employee privacy rights and giving employees remedies when those rights are violated. However, the best course of action is to keep your personal email and your company computer separate thereby eliminating any possibility that your employer will view your personal emails.

Tags: Company, Computers, Emails, Employees, Personal, Privacy, Rights, Sent, their

Bill Gates Gets 4 Million Emails a Day

The next time you’re sifting through the mortgage offers, cheap Rolex watches or dubious business proposals from Nigeria, spare a thought for Bill Gates. The Microsoft founder is the most spammed man in the world, with 4m emails arriving in his inbox each day.

Steve Ballmer, Microsoft’s chief executive, told a conference in Singapore that being the world’s best-known software billionaire has its down side: “Bill receives 4m pieces of email per day, most of it spam.”

The upside of the Microsoft founder’s bulging inbox is that it appears to have focused his mind on the problem.

Spam is regarded as perhaps the biggest threat to the internet, with some experts putting it as high as 80% of the world’s online traffic.

The company is working on a number of solutions, including software that replies automatically to email messages from users not known to that computer, and the idea of “postage” on emails. Microsoft is also working with internet firms AOL, Yahoo and EarthLink to verify the identity of the sender of an email message.

A North Carolina man who raked in $24m (£13m) from peddling junk products and pornography under a false name this month became the first felony conviction under under a United States anti-spam law, and faces up to nine years in prison.

Unlike ordinary people though, Mr Gates doesn’t get a sore finger from deleting unwanted missives. The company has a team of people dedicated to ensuring he only gets mail that he wants to read.

Tags: Bill, Emails, Gates, Gets, Million

4 Incredible Tips on How to Write Business E-mails

Sending e-mails is a routine task that many businesspeople take for granted. Keep in mind, however, that every e-mail you send reflects upon your business, so it’s critical that you make them as readable as possible. Below you will find several useful ways to get the most out of your business e-mails.

1) Get Back to Basics

Nothing gives a terrible first impression like spelling and grammar errors. It doesn’t matter if it’s simply a typo; failing to correct errors – intentional or not – undermines your professionalism. Make no mistake: spelling and grammar errors negatively affect (and can even alter) the content of your message.

These days, virtually every e-mail program contains at least a built-in spelling checker. Often, these programs come with grammar checkers too. These tools make it so simple to send a flawless e-mail that there is no excuse for anything less than grammatical perfection. At the very least, proofread before you send! Remember, if there are flaws in your e-mails, your recipients are bound to expect flaws in your work, too.

2) Keep the Layout Simple

Flashy fonts and bold colors are distracting and, in most cases, very unprofessional. When writing an e-mail, make sure you stick to an easy-to-read font and use it throughout your message. Avoid any color other than black and, in most cases, your font size should be no bigger than 12 points.

In terms of the overall layout, keep both your sentences and your paragraphs short. Long sentences and paragraphs can confuse and/or lose the attention of readers. Also, remember to separate each paragraph with a line space so that you don’t overwhelm your recipient with one big block of text.

3) Consider Your Target Audience

If you are writing to a client or a supplier, you must use polite and professional language. A paying customer usually expects respect and courtesy. Similarly, a supplier needs to know that you are a trustworthy customer, so it’s best to keep those messages professional, as well. Slang and casual language can be very off-putting to a client receiving an e-mail from your business. Also, don’t forget to say “please” and “thank you!”

If you are writing a colleague, bear in mind that it is still a work e-mail, and therefore should maintain a certain level of decorum. Personal material combined with business communication can weaken the impact of your message. It’s best to restrict the content of your business e-mails to business-related information only.

4) Use Lists to Improve Readability

You send business e-mails to communicate, accomplish tasks, and ask questions. Make sure that you clearly outline what you expect from your recipient by separating your expectations from the rest of your e-mail. Numbered lists are a great way to ensure that your recipient understands your expectations. For example, instead of just writing your needs in paragraph form, try listing them like so:

a) When will the stationery be delivered?
b) Please drop off your clerical report before you leave today.
c) Let me know when Ms. Anderson gets back to you regarding the annual meeting.

By stating your expectations in clear language, point by point, your e-mails will be more successful in helping you accomplish your business goals. Remember that each e-mail represents your company, so spend the time to get them right.

Tags: Business, Emails, Incredible, Tips, Write