IRMA-International.org: Creator of Knowledge
Information Resources Management Association
Advancing the Concepts & Practices of Information Resources Management in Modern Organizations

Electronic Mail in the Public Workplace: Issues of Privacy and Public Disclosure

Electronic Mail in the Public Workplace: Issues of Privacy and Public Disclosure
View Sample PDF
Author(s): Charles L. Prysby (University of North Carolina at Greensboro, USA)and Nicole D. Prysby (Attorney at Law, USA)
Copyright: 2003
Pages: 28
Source title: Public Information Technology: Policy and Management Issues
Source Author(s)/Editor(s): G. David Garson (North Carolina State University, USA)
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-59140-060-8.ch012

Purchase

View Electronic Mail in the Public Workplace: Issues of Privacy and Public Disclosure on the publisher's website for pricing and purchasing information.

Abstract

The increasing use of electronic mail in the workplace has generated important legal questions for public organizations. The legal questions concerning e-mail in public institutions and agencies fall into two basic categories: (a) issues of employee privacy regarding e-mail messages; and (b) public access to e-mail under applicable freedom of information legislation. While the employer has broad legal grounds for reading workplace e-mail, at least if there is some legitimate business reason for doing so, employees frequently feel that such monitoring is an excessive invasion of their privacy, and the result sometimes is organizational conflict over these privacy issues. These privacy concerns have generated demands for greater protection of employee privacy in this area, and some states have responded with legislation that covers e-mail in the workplace. Government organizations also must treat at least some of their e-mail as part of the public record, making it open to public access, but this also can lead to conflict between public administrators, who may feel that much of their e-mail represents thoughts that were not intended for public disclosure, and external groups, such as the press, who feel that all such information belongs in the public domain. State laws vary considerably in terms of how they define the types of e-mail messages that are part of the public record, some being far more inclusive than others. Given the uncertainty and confusion that frequently exist regarding these legal questions, it is essential that public organizations develop and publicize an e-mail policy that both clarifies what privacy expectations employees should have regarding their e-mail and specifies what recording keeping requirements for e-mail should be followed to appropriately retain public records.

Related Content

Serpil Kır Elitaş. © 2023. 11 pages.
Sami Kiraz. © 2023. 14 pages.
Kadir Bendaş. © 2023. 10 pages.
Fatih Değirmenci. © 2023. 15 pages.
Elifnur Terzioğlu. © 2023. 14 pages.
Türker Elitaş. © 2023. 16 pages.
Sudeep Uprety. © 2023. 14 pages.
Body Bottom