Court to Rule on Text Message Privacy at Work

[JMcEntegart]

The U.S. Supreme Court is set to rule on whether or not employers have the right to read text messages sent from a work issued phone.

Court to Rule on Text Message Privacy at Work : Read more

 

[Guest]

"The city has also referred to policies in place where workers have no expectation of privacy when using equipment that's supplied by the job."

Come on.... he sends sexually explicit text messages from a department issued cell phone? I think ole Sgt. Quon should get at least a reprimand (and pay for those naughty text messages)

 

[jellico]

Ok, why exactly is this going to the supreme court? It's pretty much a given that if your employer provides a computer, office phone, cell phone, etc., that they can and will monitor its use. The degree of that monitoring maybe vary, but a reasonable person would presume that anything and everything done with work-provided equipment can and will be seen and read.

If you want privacy, use your personal cell-phone. If you want even more privacy, get a pre-paid cell phone (don't feel bad, Tiger didn't thing about that either). Nuff said.

 

[reddragon72]

that would be the same as borrowing your roommates phone and expecting them to not look at the txt messages you sent. Or using the office billboard to post naked pictures of yourself and not expect to get in trouble, or a few naughty emails from the homely chicks. Come on it's NOT YOURS!!!

Sounds like the officers are just trying to defend there dumb arse ignorance.

 

[Guest]

Personal Cell = reasonable expectation of privacy

Work Cell = no expectation of privacy

Pretty simple.

 

[sliem]

Um, company's phone = company's property. You don't have any privacy there. Use your own phone, dummy.

 

[bydesign]

They should be made public and the officer terminate and force pay all legal cost.

 

[Platypus]

And this guy is tasked with protecting and serving the public.

 

[bison88]

Idiot, work phone means WORK PHONE and unless those sexual messages were meant to bust an undercover prostitution ring then there still would be no reason to hide them. I can't believe this even is being mentioned as if its something to question. You got something personal to say that is why you pay AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, or Verizon $70+ a month. This guy should be booted off the force just for being an idiot and trying not to lose his job and promotion to Sgt.

 

[atticus052]

Uum, this officer should have taken his days off, now he's going to be black listed for his career because he faught the obvious. I work for a law enforcement agency and it's stated blatently that any messages sent over the radios/MTDs/LAN/Emails/Phones are recorded by the City and accessable for investigation... DUH?

 

[atticus052]

Uum, this officer should have taken his days off, now he's going to be black listed for his career because he faught the obvious. I work for a law enforcement agency and it's stated blatently that any messages sent over the radios/MTDs/LAN/Emails/Phones are recorded by the City and accessable for investigation... DUH?

 

[noodlegts]

Why couldn't they just use their own phones? Company phones are company property.

 

[STravis]

Interesting that this is being brought up again - we had it as part of our discussion in one of our classes last semester.

Funny thing too, most of us thought that the court erred in the decision (there were however some loopholes in what the city claimed as it relates to the pagers, and there was also the case of one of the upper level police officers letting his subordinates know that he wasn't there to baby sit them and that if they went over their minutes and they paid for the overages they would NOT go through their texts to determine if they were all work related).

Still a tangled case that could go either way - that's what happen when the policy isn't solid and the people who are supposed to enforce it start waffling.

 

[jdragyn]

Hmmm... so if the Supreme Court decides that his right to privacy was violated in this case, then what about evidence for a crime?

"Of course he did text the names of all of his victims to his accomplice beforehand, as well as pictures of their dead bodies and him standing over them with the murder weapon. He even set the phone up to take video of him killing his final victim! But unfortunately he did it with the company phone so we had to throw that evidence out. We also can not prosecute his accomplice for the same reason..."

 

[lowguppy]

Yeah, seems kinda obv that company issuesd devices are not private.

 

[counselmancl]

Should items stored in your desk at work be subject to inspection? What about anything written on a notebook provided by the company? What if you used a company pen to write a letter? Should all voice calls from a company line be recorded and reviewed?

The question is, what type of environment would you like to work in? Do you like being a suspect? I don’t. Maybe you get 5% more productivity with such policies, but is it worth it?

 

[Guest]

"The question is, what type of environment would you like to work in? Do you like being a suspect? I don’t. Maybe you get 5% more productivity with such policies, but is it worth it?"

You are only a suspect if you feel guilty. Most big retail chains video record customers shopping in their stores. Knowing I am being filmed does not make me feel like a suspect as I have nothing to hide. Same should hold true here, do not misuse company equipment and you have nothing to fear. There is a difference between recording in case of suspected abuse and actively monitoring looking for problems. These people did something that caused their boss to dig deeper by going over their alloted texts and causing the company to eat overage charges.

 

[whobannedme]

In this case they all should be written up and fired for their actions. Why would you do such a thing knowing this is not a personal device and going over limit on text? That would warrant for an investigation of suspicious activity on anyone's account. Strange that they didn't think anyone would notice. They must have had too much time on their hands wasting gas driving around in circles instead of doing their jobs.

 

[anamaniac]

You should have no expectation of privacy on a company network, company computer, or company phone.
Hell, I had to sign a paper saying so, and I fully agree to it.
Though why they said network is beyond me, because the bastards won't let me on it, give me a company phone, or a damned computer...

 

[counselmancl]

I see you have taken your medicine, good. Now get back to work! Just remember, we're watching you.