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Federal Judges Take a Stance Against Workplace Monitoring
parvati writes: "The NYTimes is reporting that federal judges on the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (the largest of the 12 regional circuit courts) disabled software on their office computers that monitored downloading of music, streaming video, and pornography--software that had been installed by the Washington-based Administrative Office of the Courts after a survey showed that 3-7% of the judicial computer traffic included streaming video and the like. The judges say that they are concerned about "the propriety and even the legality of monitoring Internet usage." The AOC is not pleased."
Well, if they notify you upon receipt of employment
Except that NOBODY notifies employees of policy concurrently with the offer. The policy notification only happens *after* you have started the new job, when they have you over a barrel. And they change policies freely during your employment, leaving you no choice but to accept or walk out. This is a significant power differential, and it suggests that these are not "contracts freely entered into", but that there is some measure of coercion involved.
For further proof, imagine asking for a copy of the employee handbook in an interview. Do you think you'll get that offer? I'll bet it wouldn't help your chances. That says volumes about the coercive nature of this so-called "contract".
is that the higher-ups only begin to question the legality/ethics of software monitoring when it happens to them directly.
Although I'm not a big fan of workplace monitoring, this instance smacks of that guy whose neighbor told him about the how p2p likes to find kids, give them pr0n and take their bikes.
In a perfect world, the folks in D.C. would listen to the concerns of those of us who are bugged by privacy intrusions when they first start. I guess I'm not really one to complain, since I've never written a letter to my congressdude.
Maybe we should start writing. That way we'll be justified in complaining when congressmen/judges only care about things affecting them directly, or when they hear it from their neighbor's kid's cat.
If you'd bothered to read the fascinating article, you'd have seen that the NYT explicitly says: "There is no evidence that any alleged abuse involves judges." Just so you know.
And in fact, the issues they are worried about are :
- Judge Alex Kozinski, a member of the Ninth Circuit appeals court, [argues] that the monitoring was a violation of anti- wiretap statute.
- "Aside from my view that this may be a felony, it is something that we as federal judges have jurisdiction to consider. We have to pass on this very kind of conduct in the private sphere."
- "In fact, the issues of what is permissible by employers have produced a patchwork of legal rulings and the matter has never been addressed directly by the Supreme Court."
That's what they are worried about. And as for using their tech smarts: they just ordered their sysadmin to disable monitoring software. Try reading the article, mmmkay?"I will take the Ring," he said, "though I do not know the way."