The Internet

Telephone conversations in the workplace are usually private, but e-mail is not. Courts have ruled in favor of an employer's right to read without consent or notice any e-mail that passes through a company-owned system because employers can be held liable for an employee's criminal activity on communication systems such as e-mail and voicemail. Even e-mail files that have been deleted can be re-obtained in the company's directory. According to law, the employer is the sole copyright holder of the texts its personnel generate while employed by the company.

Existing state and federal electronic surveillance laws govern e-mail confidentiality. In 1986, Congress amended the Electronic Communications Privacy Act to include electronic communication in order to protect electronic communication from hackers and to protect the privacy of particular messages in transference over public service systems. But there is uncertainty about its interpretation in regard to employee e-mail.