Memo to Management on How to Avoid Liability from the Misuse of Computers

FROM:

DATE:

SUBJECT: Areas of potential company liability when computers are misused

Please keep in mind the following liability issues when monitoring employee computer use and using company information systems.

On-line/Internet activity. An employer may have complete liability for what an employee does "on line" or linked to other computers or computer services either internally or externally. An employee's unauthorized actions could lead to allegations of sexual harassment, plagiarism or libel. Connections to fee-based links that enable employee users to "purchase" goods or services could create a financial liability for employers.

E-mail use. An employer may be liable for the inappropriate dissemination via E-mail of such nonbusiness transmissions as gossip, jokes or chain letters or material that is obscene, threatening or has a non-company commercial or political purpose.

Archival issues. Because E-mail is often used in a more casual manner than traditional internal paper memoranda, retrieval (see privacy and confidentiality above) of past E-mail correspondence can potentially be devastating to an employer's position. Not only may the correspondence contain language that is embarrassing, but it could serve to undermine an employer's legal position without the employer having had any knowledge the correspondence existed.