Last week the Supreme Court of Canada delivered a groundbreaking decision (Her Majesty the Queen v. Richard Cole) that will have significant implications for workplace privacy rights of employees in Canada. In its decision the SCC declared that employees have an expectation of privacy with regard to personal information contained on workplace computers where the personal use of such computers is permitted or reasonably expected. To learn more please click here>> to listen to my interview with Charles Adler of CJOB|68 radio in which we discuss this important decision.
Supreme Court issues groundbreaking workplace privacy decision: Interview with Charles Adler (AUDIO)
October 26, 2012
Leave a Comment » | 
Due Diligence, Employee Monitoring, Laptops, Monitoring, Privacy | Tagged: Due Diligence, Employees, Privacy, Workplace Surveillance | 
Permalink
Posted by Brian Bowman
The case against Big Brother at work
April 14, 2011
Here’s a good article in the Globe & Mail’s Report on Business about the thorny issue of workplace monitoring. As I’m quoted by the Globe & Mail, “I recognize employers have risks and obligations to manage data, but on the other hand going to a more Big Brother approach isn’t the answer. And the privacy commissioner and the courts would agree with that.” Read the full article here>
Other related blog posts include Employee monitoring in today’s workplace and Social media: Is your organization’s head in the sand?
Leave a Comment » | Employee Monitoring, Facebook, Privacy, Social Networking Websites | Tagged: Employees, Facebook, Privacy, Social Networking | Permalink
Posted by Brian Bowman
Separating business and personal on Facebook: Is it possible?
March 15, 2011
Accountingweb has a great article here that deals with an issue that most business professionals on Facebook these days are increasingly facing… “If you have a Facebook account, you’ve probably faced the dilemma of whether to accept a friend request from a business associate. Declining the invitation can cause wrinkles in professional relationships, but accepting the invitation may mean that you may not be able share as freely as you’d like on Facebook.” The article provides a detailed way that you can configure your Facebook friends lists to help in these situations.
If you know of other similar articles that can help business professionals to better manage their social media activities, please share by posting a Comment below. Thanks! And thanks to my colleague, Mark Wallace, for the head’s up about the Accountingweb article.
Leave a Comment » | Facebook, Online Reputation Management, Social Networking Websites | Tagged: Employees, Facebook, Online Reputation Management, Social Networking | Permalink
Posted by Brian Bowman
Social media: Is your organization’s head in the sand?
October 26, 2010
Is your organization in the social media world?
If your answer is “no” you’re wrong. Sorry, but it was a trick question. Whether your organization admits it or not, it is in the social media world. Clients, prospective clients, employees and even competitors are almost certainly engaging in conversations about your organization on Facebook and LinkedIn. The question is whether you’re a part (or even aware) of those conversations. The second question is what are you going to do to shape those conversations, to the extent that you can?
The reality is that Canadian employees, for example, are blogging, tweeting and accessing social networking websites with increasing frequency. And the result is increased legal risks for Canadian businesses. These risks include disgruntled employees intentionally revealing trade secrets, defaming supervisors, harassing co-workers, or posting negative information about their employers’ business. There are even additional threats resulting from loyal employees who inadvertently disclose information online that runs afoul of privacy and competition laws. These threats won’t go away if your company has its head in the sand regarding social media.
One important step to dealing with and leveraging social media is to implement a social media policy within your organization. Doing so won’t address every potential headache related to social media, but it will help to manage online discussions that are occurring during and after work hours by your own employees. And since some of the greatest risks I’ve mentioned above stem from your employees, my best advice is to implement a social media policy. Key components in a social media policy should include:
- defining the scope of prohibited activities;
- clarifying to whom the policy applies;
- addressing how infringing content should be removed from social media sites;
- spelling out who, when and how monitoring of social media sites occurs; and
- advising of penalties and enforcement of the policy.
3 Comments | Blogs, Employee Monitoring, Facebook, Monitoring, Online Reputation Management, Social Networking Websites | Tagged: Blogs, Employees, Facebook, Online Reputation Management, Social Networking | Permalink
Posted by Brian Bowman
Data Security Budgets to Rocket
September 16, 2010
PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC) has just released its Global State of Information Security Survey, which says that corporate spending on data security will increase sharply in the coming years. ComputerWeekly.com reports that more than half of respondents to the PWC survey say that their companies plan to spend more on technological defences against security breaches, an increase of 14% from last year. The survey also reveals that the impact of security breaches is growing. According to ComputerWeekly.com ”the number of companies reporting financial losses from data breaches increased 6% in the past year to 20%, up from only 8% in 2008. Intellectual property theft has increased to effect 15% of companies reporting data breaches, up from just 5% in 2008. An increase in the number of sophisticated attacks aimed at stealing information from specific companies is also driving increased security spending according to the Financial Times.”
The PWC survey demonstrates that spending is shifting to monitoring of company networks, at a time when more employees are bringing their own PDA’s and computers into the workplace. But as PWC states, businesses should be making employees the first line of defence against data leaks.
The PWC survey and commentary serves as a reminder of the need to focus resources for data security (and privacy law compliance) strategically. This means investing in technological safeguards but it should mean investing in privacy training for your staff. It’s an important point because so many of the privacy breaches these days result from mistakes, or human error, by one’s own employees. I’d suggest that you compare your organization’s line item for network monitoring with your line item (if it exists) for privacy training. Are your privacy risk mitigation efforts as strategic as they could be?
Leave a Comment » | Due Diligence, Intellectual Property, Privacy, Privacy Breach, Safeguarding, Security, Security Breach, Technology, Theft, Training | Tagged: Due Diligence, Employees, Information Technology, Intellectual Property, Safeguarding, Security, Technology | Permalink
Posted by Brian Bowman
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: Businesses, Customers, Employees, Internet, Online Reputation Management, Social Networking | 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: Employees, Facebook, Social Networking | Permalink
Posted by Brian Bowman
Employee monitoring in today’s workplace
May 10, 2010
There’s no question that as we dive deeper into the information age technology will continue to permeate the workplace. Tech gadgets such as iPhones and Blackberries are cheaper and more convenient than ever before. But as the workplace becomes inundated with these tech tools, businesses increasingly have to ask themselves how they can manage the corresponding legal risks inevitably raised by empowering a legion of employees armed with Smartphones. If only there was “an app for that”!
The “fuel” for many gadgets currently in the workplace is data, which may or may not relate to the employer. And I’m not just thinking of Smartphones provided by the employer. I’m also thinking of social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter, which are often accessed after work hours on employees’ home computers.
What happens when an employer uses data gleaned from a company-owed iPhone or Blackberry to monitor an employee in the workplace? What about monitoring an employee’s Facebook page? After all, it’s not uncommon for information about an employer or its clients to appear on an employee’s Facebook page. Further, some employees have no second thoughts whatsoever about posting personal messages during paid company time. Many employers are introducing social media policies to mitigate the resulting legal risks. But how far should employers go to protect their interests?
Today’s post is the first in a series that I’ll publish in the coming weeks to provide you with an overview of legal developments regarding monitoring in the workplace, with a focus on employer monitoring of employee social media and Smartphone activities. Upcoming posts will also examine workplace privacy issues related to email, video and GPS monitoring. Stay tuned…
In the meantime, click here to listen 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 attend a complimentary Social Media in the Workplace webinar that I’ll be providing with a few of my colleagues next week (May 19th). Click here for info and to register (space is limited so register soon).
2 Comments | Employee Monitoring, Facebook, Mobile devices, Privacy, Smartphones, Social Networking Websites | Tagged: Employees, Facebook, Mobile devices, Social Networking | Permalink
Posted by Brian Bowman
Israeli military ‘unfriends’ soldier after Facebook leak: BBC
March 18, 2010
In what should serve as a valuable reminder of the need to educate employees about what constitutes acceptable postings on social networking websites, BBC is reporting that “the Israeli military cancelled a planned raid on a Palestinian village after one of its soldiers posted details of the operation on Facebook. The unnamed soldier revealed the time and place of the raid and the name of his unit on the social networking site.”
I’ve previously commented on social networking websites and employer-employee relationships. This BBC report is just one more example of a situation which may have been prevented with better employee training and a clear social networking policy. Common sense should, and typically does, guide employees in determining what to post online. Yet, if an Israeli soldier can’t think twice before posting the details of a planned operation it’s easy to see how some employees of Canadian businesses – perhaps yours - unintentionally post valuable corporate information online.
Leave a Comment » | Facebook, Internet, MySpace, Online Reputation Management, Social Networking Websites | Tagged: Corporate Information, Employees, Facebook, Online Reputation Management, Social Networking | Permalink
Posted by Brian Bowman
The top 5 mistakes of privacy awareness programs: Computerworld
February 10, 2010
Computerworld has just published an excellent article which highlights the top five (5) mistakes that companies often make when educating employees about data protection.
Read the Computerworld article here!
Leave a Comment » | Data Protection, Privacy, Training | Tagged: Due Diligence, Employees, Privacy | Permalink
Posted by Brian Bowman
