Perry: Juggling transparency with privacy
Brian Perry writes in his column for the Madison County Journal: “My libertarian streak opposes government secrecy, but advocates personal privacy. So where do we draw the line between individual privacy (including government employees) and the public’s right to know?
“One extreme says there is no line. Government time; government computer; government e-mail means an employee paid by the taxpayers of Mississippi should expect no privacy in their e-mail or communications and all are subject to an open records request.
“Another extreme says there is a privacy wall. Government employees presume their e-mails are private communications and they should not be subject to review from their colleagues, their bosses, the press, or any other Big Brother.”
July 9th, 2008 at 3:32 pm
Update on this column. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that employees have a presumption of privacy with text messages and e-mails even while using company accounts in the private sector, “although company policies that spell out the authority to read those e-mails would eliminate the expectation of privacy”. The case is Quon v. Arch Wireless Operating Co. Inc., No. 07-55282. This article in the National Law Review by Pamela A. MacLean tells about it: Workers’ text messages are private. The ruling uses the Stored Communications Act I mentioned in the column. Again, this is private sector and not public sector government communications, but it could indicate the judiciary’s thoughts on this matter in the future.