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Your boss shouldn't read your text or e-mail messages without an OK, court says

by kferaday | June 20, 2008 at 08:13 pm | 116 views | 1 comment

The Los Angeles times filed this report yesterday. It limits the ability for employers to monitor employee email and text messages, including personal messages, through outsourced services. This is a great step forward for individual privacy rights in the workplace. You can also read the Electronic Frontier Foundation's analysis of the ruling here.

SAN FRANCISCO -- A federal appeals court Wednesday sharply limited the ability of employers to obtain e-mails and text messages sent by employees on company-financed accounts.

The text message portion of the ruling, issued by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, will affect all employers who contract with an outside provider for messaging, as most do. Access to e-mail would be barred if the employer contracts out its e-mail service rather than maintaining an internal server to handle it.