[BC] IT troubles

[Paul Christensen]

>  Still, in any corporate environment, it's a good idea to assume that
>  ALL traffic is monitored, even if it's not !

Sage advice.  And if it isn't today, the communication may be monitored 
tomorrow.

Ten years ago, I had an employee who began coming in to work an hour early 
every day.  At first, I assumed that he wanted to get an early start on the 
work day.  About two months after I noticed this change in his arrival 
pattern, I received a call from our HR department with a request to clear my 
calendar for the morning and meet with them concerning an employee 
compliance issue.

At the meeting, our HR director handed me several dozen print-screens from 
pornographic sites -- all of which were accessed through the company's 
network and included LAN IP, time, and date-stamp information.  They had all 
the evidence they needed to conclusively associate the access to the 
employee.

It's the company's network and it's their prerogative (and arguably, their 
duty) to monitor company communications.  Any of you still work for an 
organization that opens up all mail before forwarding it to you?

Check your internal policies.   The odds are good that the company gives 
constructive notice of such monitoring through memoranda, company handbooks, 
and/or signed statements at the commencement of employment.   Private 
companies are generally not subject to affirmative notice procedures, nor 
First Amendment protection where potentially, a case can be made for a 
"reasonable expectation of privacy."

Anyway, that incident occurred ten years ago and corporate methods of 
stealth network monitoring have gotten even better since then.

Paul


====================================
Paul Christensen, CPBE, CBNT
LAW OFFICE OF PAUL B. CHRISTENSEN, P.A.
3749 Southern Hills,  Jacksonville, Florida 32225
Office: (904) 379-7802   Facsimile: (904) 212-0050
pchristensen at ieee.org