Employee Monitoring

Monitoring employee use of social media makes sound business sense, but companies need to keep limits in mind, particularly as they relate to employee’s privacy rights under both federal and state law. For instance, accessing password-restricted sites handled by employees can violate many federal and state privacy laws, including the Stored Communications Act (SCA),¹ which makes it an offense to intentionally access stored communications without authorization or in excess of authorization.² Note, however, that the statute also provides an exception to liability with respect to conduct authorized by a user with regard to a communication intended for that user—for example, an employee affirmatively authorizes her employer to access her email account or Facebook page.³