If you have internet access at work, there's a very good chance your employer has a system in place to monitor your online activities.
So, if you're concerned about privacy, take heed. Under current U.S. law, there's little you can do to protect the confidentiality of your internet use on the job. Here's a rundown of the rights you don't have at work.
Notice of monitoring: Only two states (Connecticut and Delaware) require that employers inform workers if they are monitoring online activity, according to Jeremy Gruber, legal director, the National Workrights Institute. Federal legislation requiring such disclosure has been proposed but not enacted.
That said, most employers do provide notice to employees if they track workplace web use. In an employer survey conducted this year by the American Management Association and the ePolicy Institute, 89 percent of respondents said they notify employees if their web usage is being tracked.
Privacy outside the office: More workers are telecommuting these days, often using laptops and other portable devices provided by their employer. But leaving the office doesn't guarantee freedom from internet surveillance.
Using the company laptop to remotely access its network is, from a monitoring legality standpoint, generally the same as working from the office, said Mark Schreiber, a partner at Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge, who advises firms regarding internet use policies. People who are entering the company network from home, even from their personal computer, should be aware that online activities may be monitored.
To protect privacy, Gruber's recommends investing in your own equipment:
"Use your own system that is in no way, shape, or form connected through the employer's network," he said.
The right to blog: People who like to blog -- especially about their employer -- should refrain from doing so at work.
"The computer system is the property of the employer, and the employer has the right to monitor all internet activity," said Nancy Flynn, executive director of the ePolicy Institute. "That would include blog posts and all e-mail and internet transmissions."
Flynn estimates that hundreds of people have been fired for their blog content in recent years. In the AMA/ePolicy survey, 26 percent of respondents said they had fired workers for misusing the internet. A quarter of employers also said they'd terminated workers for e-mail misuse.
Weekend work without monitoring: If you're laboring overtime and taking work home for the weekend, employers are likely still monitoring your online activities if you use their equipment or network, says Gruber. That means employees might want to be careful about personal web-surfing or e-mail activities until they've logged off the company server.
