Must departing employees “de-friend” connections on LinkedIn?

June 16, 2010

Can the act of connecting with other professionals on social networking websites such as LinkedIn constitute a violation of a non-compete or non-solicitation contractual undertaking? Are departing employees that are subject to such restricted covenants required to disconnect and “de-friend” colleagues and customers of their former employer until the contractual undertaking have expired?

ComputerWorld is reporting today that an IT staffing firm has accused one of its former employees of violating her non-compete undertaking through her conduct on LinkedIn. I’m not aware of any similar lawsuit to date in Canada so it’ll be interesting to see how this particular case evolves in the U.S. This case and others that I’ve previously noted highlight the blurring line between online and offline worlds. Businesses should consider whether or not, and to what extent, they should try to enforce such restrictive covenants in the social networking world. Stay tuned…

Leave a Comment » | Employee Monitoring, Internet, Monitoring, Online Reputation Management, Social Networking Websites | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Brian Bowman

Is covert surveillance ever legal?

June 10, 2010

A former administrator in the Rural Municipality of La Broquerie has alleged that town politicians installed hidden video surveillance cameras in nearly every room in the municipality offices to secretly spy on rival councillors, staff and even the public.

Manitoba’s Ombudsman is investigating these explosive allegations. If they are true, it is very hard to image a legal defence. But can the use of covert video surveillance ever be legal?

Read more>>

Leave a Comment » | Employee Monitoring, Monitoring, Ombudsman, Privacy, Video Surveillance | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Brian Bowman

Social Media and the Workplace webinar: Watch now!

May 20, 2010

Thanks to everyone from Europe, the U.S. and across Canada who attended last week’s Social Media and the Workplace webinar. If you didn’t have a chance to attend, you can now watch the webinar here.

Related information on this blog that may be of interest to you includes this audio link to my recent CJOB|68 radio interview with Human Resources specialist Barbara Bowes in which we discuss privacy issues in the workplace. You may also want to read this article I penned with my colleague Andrew Buck entitled Monitoring Employee Email: A Privacy Primer. And, of course, you can use the blog’s “Tags” to navigate to specific content of interest.

2 Comments | Employee Monitoring, Facebook, Monitoring, Privacy, Social Networking Websites | Tagged: , , | Permalink
Posted by Brian Bowman

Man jailed for secretly filming naked wife: ABC News

March 12, 2010

In what can only be describe as a bizarre fact scenario, ABC News is reporting that “an appeals court in the US state of Minnesota has upheld a one-year prison sentence for a man who drilled a hole in his bathroom wall and filmed his wife naked without her consent.”

The case is interesting because it deals with the important privacy issue of what constitutes a “reasonable expectation of privacy” (in this case, in one’s own bathroom).  Read the story here>>

Leave a Comment » | Monitoring, Personal Information, Privacy, Video Surveillance | Tagged: , | Permalink
Posted by Brian Bowman

Businesses should learn from 2010 Olympics surveillance camera debate

February 16, 2010

The 2010 Olympics are finally here! So too are the reportedly pervasive crowd surveillance cameras that are monitoring spectators’ every move.

Privacy advocates are already voicing concern.  But unlike previous public debates regarding privacy and surveillance cameras, I expect that the concerns that’ll be raised during and after the 2010 Olympics will be more comprehensive than the traditional “privacy vs security” debate. For instance,  Jennifer Stoddart, Canada’s Privacy Commissioner, recently commented on this blog that “one of the big issues will revolve around the pervasive crowd surveillance measures, and what will happen with all of the cameras and recordings after the flame is extinguished.”

Of course, there are legal tests that governments (and businesses) should use to determine the appropriateness of installing surveillance cameras in the first place. But once any organization has decided to install surveillance cameras there’s a corresponding requirement to appropriately manage the data that’s collected. For instance, organizations must ensure that they have security, retention and destruction policies in place. This is the “devil in the detail” that’s often overlooked.

I expect public scrutiny of the surveillance cameras being used during the 2010 Olympics. And such scrutiny will increase public expectations on businesses to properly manage data that they too collect by surveillance cameras.

2 Comments | Monitoring, Privacy, Privacy Commissioner of Canada, Safeguarding, Security, Technology, Video Surveillance | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Brian Bowman

Monitoring employee e-mail: A privacy primer

January 4, 2010

Since e-mail has become the dominant form of business correspondence, employers have been increasingly forced to deal with issues related to e-mail use, monitoring and access. It’s crucial that organizations stay on top of the legal landscape as it relates to e-mail monitoring, especially as it relates to privacy issues.

Unfortunately, privacy law does not offer black and white answers to the legal issues raised by e-mail monitoring practices. Instead, and like most other privacy law issues, the standard of “reasonableness” rules the day.

I recently penned an article on point (link below) with my colleague Andrew Buck (who is currently completing his Articles at Pitblado LLP) for the Canadian Bar Association’s National Privacy & Access Law section newsletter, Privacy Pages. Our article examines some of the case law and commentary that has arisen from e-mail monitoring with a view towards setting out practical solutions for the creation of “reasonable” e-mail monitoring practices. If you’re interested in reading the full article, please click on the link below.

Monitoring employee e-mail: a privacy primer

1 Comment | Access to Information, E-mail, Employee Monitoring, Monitoring, Personal Information, PIPA, PIPEDA, Privacy, Technology | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
Posted by Brian Bowman

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