Considering Texting About Work? Beware.

As the rise in remote work has led to an increased reliance on mobile devices to stay connected – with cellphones at our fingertips virtually 24/7 – the use of third-party messaging applications to communicate about work has become commonplace. From WhatsApp to Telegram, corporate executives and financial services professionals around the globe routinely communicate about their businesses using messaging applications that are not tied to their corporate systems. This practice presents an array of compliance-related challenges for employers which have often been ignored, and law enforcement and regulatory agencies have taken notice.

In fall 2022, the US Department of Justice clearly signaled that it is cracking down on workplace use of personal devices and third-party messaging applications. On September 15, DOJ Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco issued a  memo detailing revisions to the DOJ's corporate criminal enforcement policies. Among other things, the memo