Did you say "gear"?
"Me text you long time."
Posted on 06/24/2008 6:03:43 AM PDT by Coffee200am
Last week, the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that an employer does not have the right to view employees' text messages without a warrant. The ruling is based primarily on who pays for the storage of the content. For e-mail stored on company's servers, U.S. law is quite clear that employers own the content because they pay for the storage. The Court, however, does not view text messaging in the same way: because employers do not pay for the storage, but instead pay only for the service itself, employers do not have the same legal access to this content.
As I see it, this ruling will have two important implications:
First, more employers will expand their corporate messaging policies to include specific provisions regarding the ownership of text messages. Such provisions might include statements that text messages sent during business hours or that contain business records belong to the employer, not the employee. That will be the easy implication.
Second, this ruling will create additional problems for employers and some vendors. For example, what about hosted business-grade e-mail services that provide unlimited storage? For example, an employer who provides a hosted Exchange account for each employee with a provider that offers unlimited storage is, at least in theory, paying just for the service itself, not the storage – it could be interpreted that the hosted provider is offering storage for free, since storing 100 gigabytes in such an account would cost no more than storage for 1 megabyte.
If a court interprets that the content stored in such an account is merely incidental and that the employer is paying only for the service – as it did in last week’s text messaging ruling – then hosted providers might be forced to charge for storage. What about a hosted archiving service that places no limit on the amount of storage? Will the court rule that the stored content is off-limits to employers without a warrant?
I believe that the Ninth Circuit’s ruling will actually create more legal issues than it has settled and will make employers focus more on corporate policies designed to make the ownership of data much more explicit.
2MI 4COL AFAIC
Why are people texting and using their cell phones at work for personal business?
When I entered the workforce in the early 80s, it was drilled into you - you don’t use company time for personal business unless it is an emergency.
By the way, I don’t use it, either. Never bothered to learn how. My phone is for phone calls. The screen is too small to read messages and besides, I’m too cheap to pay the extra for “text messages” I cannot read....
Seems to me the implications are pretty simple. Employers are going pay for the phones employees use. A lot of them already do.
Who owns the gear?
D*mn straight!!! He writes the checks and his business is to be kept in business.
Since this is a 9th Circuit ruling it will have a very short life.
My view exactly. Although I am scientifically trained, I never even bothered to learn how to do the SMS stuff. Phone = talk. Using your mouth to form strings of words that eventually, if you do it right, gel into sentences. Emotions get transferred too.
SMS is for the under-fives.
I entered the workforce in the 70's and I use text messaging all the time for business purposes (and yes for personal purposes too). Essentially it's just another phone and I often get the information I need faster than I would had I picked up the phone.
Given the availability of free email providers like google and yahoo, employees have no need to use employer provided email services for personal use and should only be using such systems for business use anyway.
If it’s the company computer, blackberry, or cell phone then yes they do IMHO.
If it is their own cell then no, but if there is a problem of abuse then implement a policy on use during business hours and put it in their contract as cause for termination.
Did you say "gear"?
"Me text you long time."
Or as an alternative, companies could deal with the person who is abusing the priviledge instead of "passing a law" and making work more difficult for everyone.
So did you work for Edison or for his competition?
Seriously though text messaging can valuable in the business environment. Its an easy way to communicate short messages like “ whats your arrival time” or “where the heck are you”. Depends on the work environment.
Seems there are two easy fixes to this problem. 1) disable text messaging for all corporate phones, 2) include employees approval on the terms of use agreement all companies should have.
text messaging also provides an easy way for people to transmit small amounts of confidential information. Like account numbers or other sellable things. Since text messages are not filtered or tracked like email its harder to catch someone doing it.
I also understand the decision. If the text messaging is part of the service the company is paying for it would seem they would have ownership of it. In sexual harrassment cases they would sure try to hold the company responsible.
Most of the employees were angry that the corporation was doing this, but I had no problem with it — it's their equipment an they're paying the bills. Frankly, I'm shocked at the contents of some employees’ e-mails.
Exactly, deal with the people who abuse it and make an example of them.
The problem comes in when employers cross the line between personal and business. I’ve worked for places that when I asked for a company cell phone I was told to use my personal cell phone and submit an expense report for the charges. In such a case where it is impossible to seperate the personal and private messages, I don’t see where the employer would have the right to view the messages without my permission.
The story seems to be misleading. (typical of the media)
Texting would be relating to SMS msgs from a mobile.
I see no way a company can monitor THAT, other then time used on a COMPANY phone.
Email, however is something else, and if the employee is using company computers then thats another thing.
The company should have the right to monitor any text going to or from their computer, provided the employee is advised in advance that their msgs may be recorded.
Which is ironic because I never envisioned myself using the texting function.
I meet with the CFO weekly and when I have a cell bill with text charged, I give him a check for it. If he ever asked to see the texts but I wouldn't bat an eye - as a matter of fact, I'd probably like it because their mostly women asking where "where ru?". But, then again, my boss is great....and he'd never ask.
I never post or attach anything on any e-mail that I wouldn’t feel comfortable sharing with my employer or the world.
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