Most of you have used, or at least heard of, carbon paper. For those who haven't, think of it as the tool of yesterday's business world.
In today's business world, technology is king. E-mail, voicemail, Internet access, modems, fax machines, Blackberry devices, cell phones > the options are plentiful and changing practically daily.
As the tools of business have changed, have your company policies kept up? If your business still doesn't have a Technology Use Policy, the answer to that question is a resounding: no.
What is a Technology Use Policy?
A Technology Use Policy advises your employees/users of what they can and cannot do with your company's technology systems. At the very least, such policies should explain that all company-provided technology systems are company property and are intended to be used by your employees/users for business purposes only.
Conditions for use should also be included. What your employees/users shall not do with your corporate technology tools must be clearly and specifically spelled out. In addition, the fact that the company technology systems are subject to monitoring for security, network management or other business purposes, as well as to ensure compliance with the Technology Use Policy must be clearly stated. You should be certain your employees/users know that communications made via any of the company's technology systems are not guaranteed to be private. Rather, your employees/users should be told to assume that all such communications may be seen or heard by others, and used as necessary.
As with other employment policies, your employees/users should specifically acknowledge their receipt, review, and understanding of the Technology Use Policy and specifically agree to abide by all of its terms.
Why have a Technology Use Policy?
Quite simply, every employer needs a Technology Use Policy to attempt to minimize their potential liability in connection with or resulting from their employees'/users' utilization of the company's technology systems. While the nature of claims brought since the business world embraced technology are somewhat different from the claims brought back when carbon paper was cutting edge, the financial risks of lawsuits in general have grown exponentially, significantly changing the stakes for business owners.
Also, evidence used in lawsuits has changed dramatically. Attorneys are using sophisticated methods for electronic discovery and mining for electronically stored data. Seminars on this topic are now commonplace. Your opponent's counsel knows that simply deleting a message from a computer or a computer system does not eliminate the message. A cottage industry of electronic discovery experts has formed and once an improper use of your technology systems has occurred, it's hard to put the toothpaste back in the tube.
Examples abound of the drastic impact inappropriate employee/user utilization of technology systems can have on lawsuits. Multimillion dollar discrimination actions have been lost by employers as a result of inappropriate e-mails, including seemingly innocuous (at the time) jokes and comments. An employee's "joke" is not funny at all marked as Exhibit A in a discrimination lawsuit. Invasion of privacy claims, copyright infringement claims > including the unauthorized download of software > defamation claims, trade secret actions, and wrongful termination claims have all resulted from or had results turn on a company's failure to have, or properly enforce, a meaningful Technology Use Policy. As well illustrated by the Microsoft antitrust matter, careless use of e?mail alone can have a significant evidentiary impact on nearly any type of litigation involving your company.
Adopting and enforcing a meaningful Technology Use Policy is the only way, short of reverting to the carbon paper of old, to protect your business. If your business still doesn't have one, it should.
Joe Morford is an attorney at Arter & Hadden LLP and is a member of the firm's E-Group where he focuses his practice on litigation, including litigation of employment matters. The E-Group is a multi-disciplinary group of attorneys who focus their practice on entrepreneurs, Internet, e-commerce and emerging growth companies. Joe can be reached at 216/696-4690 or jmorford@arterhadden.com for questions regarding a Technology Use Policy appropriate for your business.
Reprinted with permission by SBN magazine