Man convicted due to computer privacy at work complications
September 16th, 2008
According to a post from Out-Law.com The US court rules an employee has no privacy on company computers.
Basically the man was convicted of stealing $650,000 from his employer while working as a book keeper. The story notes his desktop and laptop were searched without warrants, and there was confusion that the laptop was his personal property and that he abandoned the laptop. The court relied on a previous case whose ruling said that someone who abandons property no longer has an expectation of privacy in relation to it.
But what about the personal property? The man claimed that he paid for the laptop himself but is some one that has stolen money from a company (especially $650,000) really entitled to say that they paid $500 for a laptop from that very company? To add more confusion it turns out that the laptop was paid for once on a company card also. This is some shady accounting going on, and the man probably was guilty. As for privacy at work, he wasn’t really at work when the searches were done. Do you have a right to privacy after you leave? What if you format your hard drive.. you could serve some time for a sabotage. This is exactly why companies should have clear privacy policies and computer usage policies governing the use of computers, data and communications. If the company needs information off of their own property, they should be entitled to that information, but what came first the chicken or the egg?
Entry Filed under: ...the other side.
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