Many people in
the United States mistakenly believe that their email is private, however this
is not the case. In the case of the U.S. Government, the Constitution has
placed several limitations on their ability to monitor communications. This was
later reinforced by The Privacy Act of 1974, that offered protection against
government collection and disclosure of personal information and were required
to obtain a search warrant (Tedford and Herbeck 126). Unlike the U.S. Government, private employers
are not restricted by the same limitations. For instance, “neither the Fourth
Amendment nor the Privacy Act of 1974 applies to private employment” (Tedford
and Herbeck 127). This can be shown in the federal court case Smyth v. Pillsbury (1996). In this case,
Michael Smyth, an employee, made derogatory comments about the sales management
team. His supervisor forwarded these remarks and he was fired for making “inappropriate
and unprofessional comments”. He sued for wrongful termination, but the court
disagreed stating that there was “no expectation of privacy in email
communications voluntarily made by an employee to his supervisor over the
company email system” (Tedford and Herbeck 127). Therefore, employees of
private companies should have no reasonable expectation of privacy.
As stated at the beginning, many
people in the United States do not realize that their email is not private,
especially from their employers. However, in recent years there has been more
debate as to whether or not there should be more privacy for employees in the
work place. The site EPIC, also known as the Electronic Privacy Information
Center, discusses current debates about workplace privacy. In an article, EPIC
examines the case, United States v.
Hamilton (2012). In this case, the defendant argued that messages between
him and his spouse were inadmissible in court because of marital privilege. On
the contrary, his employer argued that since, “these messages were stored on a
workplace computer and subject to the office’s workplace use policy, these
messages were not confidential” (Electronic Privacy Information Center). In the
end, the court ruled in favor of the defendant’s employer.
Everyone wants privacy and the, “right
to be let alone”, as defined by Justice Brandeis (Tedford and Herbeck 113). Nonetheless,
privacy is not always guaranteed. It is understandable setting limitations on
the government and its ability to have access to our email without a reasonable
cause and a warrant. I believe without these limitations the government would
have too much power over us and allow them to more easily control what is said
or discussed and to dispose of those who oppose them. I think private employers
should be able to maintain the right to monitor and view employee emails as
long as the employee is using company devices (provided by the employer) or on
their network. To be honest, if you do not want your employer to see what you are
doing or saying, then do not do it at work or on work devices.
“EPIC – United States v. Hamilton.” EPIC, https://www.epic.org/amicus/hamilton/
Tedford, Thomas
L., and Dale A. Herbeck. Freedom of
Speech in the United States. Strata
Publishing,
Inc., 2017.
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