Search Employee Computers

I fully side with BHunsinger, no plicy in place, then its invasion of ones privacy! Get a policy in place then you can snoop around

There's a lot of bandying about the "expectation of privacy" in this discussion. I thought it was time to mention that the actual law in question is Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986. It was enacted to allow management to listen in unannounced to employees' phone conversations in call centers "for quality and training purposes," and it's been extended to email, voicemail and other forms of electronic communications. It's about privacy rights, not the particular technological setting.

The law says you can't snoop where the employee has a reasonable expectation of privacy. Employers take away that expectation through recorded messages such as "your call may be monitored...", logon screens on company computers saying they monitor, notice given in employee handbooks and Acceptable Use Policies, etc. Since the inception of the law, courts have looked at each situation to see whether the employee reasonably THOUGHT they had private communications. If the employer suitably dashed those expectations and could prove it, then the court held for the employer. When the employer didn't have some form of policy and notice to employees (whether or not they asked the employee for permission, the courts have generally held for the employee.

So-it's not the form of the policy or even the justification for snooping: it is whether the employer tells the employee they have no privacy.
End of story. Now would someone please answer the original question?

There are valid reasons for the requirement to do this sort of thing.

Let's start with the fact that the computer that you use at work does not belong to you and you have no right to privacy when you use it. It is a tool that was provided to you so that you can perform a function for an employer and is only to be used for that function.

If you're yelling and screaming at the Network Administrator because he is enforcing company policy, then you stick out like a sore thumb as someone who is doing something that they shouldn't be doing with company property.

You'd be surprised how many people come to him for support because they blow up their computers with illegally downloaded programs and viruses. I think that if fewer people came to him for support because he enforced that policy, it would be a welcome thing.

I don't just arbitrarliy scan employee data to look for things to bust people on. I'm actually pretty liberal with the policy compared to most admins. I do reserve the right, however, to do a network wide search through employee email and files at any time should there be a security or administrative need.

Remember that when the network goes down, servers blow up, the BSA audits the network, or an unfriendly hacker works his way in via trojan, we are the ones responsible.

How do you know how many time take for obtaining a usefully information for somebody?s job. This article you put to this site from home or from job?
It?s possible for a doctor to search some information in internet for saving a live, he find a lot of information and need to navigate for consult all.
It?s a possibility even this.

is favoritism, or "selective prosecution".