Employer e-snooping measure nears vote

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by Patrick Thibodeau

(IDG) -- A bill proposed earlier this summer that would prohibit companies from secretly monitoring employees' e-mail and Internet usage could get key congressional subcommittee approval this week as lawmakers rush to finish up business before adjourning next month.

The U.S. House of Representatives' Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution is due to vote on the bill, officially known as the Notice of Electronic Monitoring Act, sometime this week and then send it to the full House Judiciary Committee. The Judiciary Committee's approval is needed before the entire House membership can take up the bill.

An identical bill is pending before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Last week, Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), a chief sponsor of the measure, said in testimony before the House subcommittee that the House and Senate bills represent a "first line of defense" against workforce practices "that can be nothing more than a blatant invasion of privacy."

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The bills, which Schumer and two other legislators filed in July in their respective chambers, wouldn't stop companies from monitoring their employees' communications. But employers would be required to notify workers of any monitoring of telephone, e-mail or Internet use as well as general tracking of computer keystrokes.

Companies would also have to disclose the frequency of their monitoring activities under the Senate and House bills proposed by Schumer and Reps. Charles Canady (R-Fla.) and Bob Barr (R-Ga.).

But the legislation may have little impact on many companies, said Jeff LePage, director of management information systems at American Fast Freight in Kent, Wash. His company, for example, already lets employees know about its monitoring practices. American Fast Freight also covers those practices in the information that's given to new employees, he said.

Letting employees know that they could be watched can help to prevent inappropriate e-mail or Internet usage, LePage noted. "If you know you're being monitored to begin with, your behavior is already modified," he said.

Chris Christiansen, a security analyst at International Data Corp. in Framingham, Mass., echoed the point, adding that the proposed monitoring legislation "just ensures that the unscrupulous companies that are . . . violating people's privacy [through secret monitoring] are reined in."

However, concerns about the bill were raised at last week's hearing by Kenneth Segarnick, assistant general counsel at United Messaging, a West Chester, Pa.-based e-mail outsourcing company.

Although Segarnick said employee notification of monitoring is a "reasonable requirement," he also said the provision in the bill that compels employers to state how often monitoring takes place could lead to legal problems.

Companies may be inclined to tell employees that they frequently monitor employee communications or keystrokes, even if they don't, Segarnick said. But an employee who files a lawsuit against another worker and the company after receiving sexually harassing materials via e-mail could claim that the company should have known about the harassment because of its monitoring activities, he added.

Pervasive workplace monitoring is leading to problems, testified Lewis Maltby, president of National Workrights Institute, a nonprofit group in Princeton, N.J.

"Employers' efforts to prevent abuse often lead to serious invasions of privacy," said Maltby. "People are not robots. They discuss the weather, sports, their families and many other matters unrelated to their jobs at work." He added that many of those kinds of communications can be "highly personal."

More employers taking advantage of new cyber-surveillance software
July 10, 2000
45% of big firms monitor workers
April 21, 1999
Japan's police gain right to tap phones and e-mail
August 16, 2000
Internet group opposes new U.K. wiretapping law
August 4, 2000
Glitch at Amazon.com exposes e-mail addresses
September 8, 2000

Congress takes up bill on e-mail monitoring
(Computerworld)
Know your company's monitoring policy
(Network World Fusion)
High-tech accepts privacy laws
(InfoWorld.com)
U.S. surfers want guaranteed privacy
(IDG.net)
Digital spying? Get over it already
(PCWorld.com)
U.S. lawmakers introduce workplace privacy measure
(InfoWorld.com)
Survey says workers unworried about e-mail privacy
(IDG.net)

U.S. House of Representatives

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