Legal Question in Civil Rights Law in Massachusetts

Computer privacy

Although I agree in part with Mr. Aspinwall's assessment, I should also note that some local case law counsels in the opposite direction. Although Mr. Aspinwall is correct that, in general, there is no expectation of privacy on a computer supplied by your employer, there is also at least one Massachusetts case that says that, before an employer can monitor the goings-on on your work computer, the employer needs to give you some warning that it intends to do so. A simple notice in an employee handbook or employment agreement will generally suffice (and I recommend this to all of my corporate clients), but it is still (legally) dangerous for an employer to engage in such actions without first giving notice. Hope this helps.

Evan

Re: Has my privacy been violated?

Thus far the state of the law is that you do not have an expectation of privacy in your employer's computer, no matter who is authorized to use it. Consequently, you must avoid all personal use if you wish to maintain privacy. Otherwise your information is available to your employer by whatever means it is gathered, and there is nothing you can legally do because it is not legally forbidden.