Privacy Commissioner Underlines Importance Of Workplace Technology Policies

A recent Order of the Alberta Privacy Commissioner underscores the importance of having, and properly implementing, policies related to the use and monitoring of company-owned technology like Blackberries and laptops.

In the Order, the employer undertook an investigation of the personal use of a company-issued Blackberry by one of its employees. The employer believed that the employee had used the Blackberry to make personal phone calls contrary to its policy that Blackberries could only be used for work purposes. It investigated by making calls to the phone numbers it believed were questionable. It obtained the numbers from the monthly invoice it received from its phone/data plan provider.