| Can you imagine a place where you can not talk to | | | | real time, any employee can willingly or inadvertently |
| your friends without a chaperon or tend to personal | | | | send confidential or proprietary information without the |
| matters without permission? I can. I call it Hunters | | | | company finding out. Just think of the scenario where |
| Creek Elementary School, but for many others it is | | | | a financial analyst sends a message to a friend about |
| called the Office. It's sad but true: Millions of employees | | | | a new deal they are working on. It sounds harmless, |
| have had their access to personal email and social | | | | but in truth, that employee has just passed on insider |
| networking sites cut off. | | | | information and that can result in investor lawsuits, |
| Almost all corporations monitor e-mail communications; | | | | government fines and even criminal charges. By the |
| but did you know that nearly half of these companies | | | | time the company finds out, the damage has been |
| completely restrict employee access to popular email | | | | done. While instances like this are rare, they do happen |
| and social networking sites like Gmail, Hotmail, | | | | and many corporations aren't willing to take the risk |
| Facebook and MySpace? There is a good chance | | | | just to keep their employees connected. |
| you know this from personal experience...you are not | | | | This brings us to the next major factor: Government |
| alone. As a former corporate worker bee, I can relate | | | | regulation. There are many laws and government |
| to the frustrations shared by millions of people who | | | | organizations regulating corporate email security, |
| have found themselves blocked from their personal | | | | privacy and document retention practices. At least |
| email and social networking messages in the | | | | eight federal agencies and numerous state agencies |
| workplace. | | | | have authority to enforce these laws, which include: |
| Not all corporations are evil, so why do so many block | | | | Sarbanes-Oxley, HIPAA, Gramm-Leach-Bliley, SEC |
| employee access to external messaging accounts | | | | Rule 17A, NASD Rules 3010 & 3110, the USA |
| when it is clearly an unpopular policy? The answer | | | | Patriot Act and the Cyber Security Enhancement Act |
| may surprise you because "Productivity" is not the | | | | of 2002. The legal landscape for online messaging is |
| reason. Most corporate e-mail and internet policies are | | | | complicated and unclear; however, the fines for |
| predicated on security, legal liability and regulatory | | | | violating these rules can be hefty. In February 2006, |
| concerns. In truth, the decision to restrict access is a | | | | Morgan Stanley was fined $15 million by the US |
| prudent business practice. | | | | Security and Exchange Commission for its failure to |
| Let's look at the security issues first. Unrestricted | | | | properly retain email messages, and there are many |
| access to external messaging accounts exposes | | | | similar examples. |
| company computing systems to the threat of viruses | | | | The fight for the right to email is a relatively new one; |
| and other unwanted intrusions. It only takes one | | | | many of the laws regulating email were just enacted |
| erroneous download to take down a single computer | | | | over the last ten years. However, most experts |
| or even worse, an entire network. Even with the | | | | believe the landscape will become increasingly more |
| best-in-breed anti-virus applications, protecting | | | | restrictive and even the most liberal companies will |
| computers from web downloads is difficult and | | | | soon become more prohibitive with their internet |
| breaches occur all the time. The bottom line is the cost, | | | | policies. And the timing couldn't be worse. As the |
| time and lost productivity associated with repairing or | | | | tech-savvy Generation Y's representation in the |
| replacing an infected computer is high and the ROI on | | | | established workforce grows, the conflict will deepen. |
| granting employee access to personal messages is | | | | These young, well-connected technologists will find life |
| low. | | | | quite difficult without high speed access to their online |
| So what of the legal liabilities? It's sad, but we live in a | | | | communities and messages. However, in the David vs. |
| litigious society and an offensive message sent from | | | | Goliath battles between employees and employers, |
| an employee's computer can result in the company | | | | Goliath usually wins. So what is a well-connected |
| being sued. Furthermore, because it is difficult and | | | | worker bee to do? |
| expensive to monitor external messaging accounts in | | | | |