February 21, 2000

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Invasion Of Privacy? E-Mail Monitoring Is On The Rise
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The tug-of-war between employers and workers intensified in California last fall, when the state Legislature passed a bill that would have made it a misdemeanor for an employer to monitor an employee's E-mail without advance notification.

Gov. Gray Davis vetoed the bill after much lobbying on both sides of the issue. He said the proposed legislation would infringe on the employer and unleash dozens of lawsuits from disgruntled workers.

But there are other legal reasons why companies may not want to monitor E-mail, says Joyce Grass, VP and research director for electronic mail at Gartner Group. Grass says courts have ruled that companies are liable for harassment charges if they institute monitoring of electronic communications, but don't uncover messages that lead to the charges.

"If you say you're monitoring, but didn't find [evidence of wrongdoing], you're in trouble," she says. "It's almost better not to monitor."

In addition, E-mail monitoring can be costly and labor-intensive. Some companies find that it's not worth the the hassle--particularly because it still doesn't offer complete protection against the one damaging message that might be overlooked, Grass says. "Some companies install monitoring software, only to give up after a week," she says.

Still, many companies are buying into E-mail monitoring. David Ferris, who heads Ferris Research, forecasts sales of E-mail monitoring software to reach $70 million this year and double within a few years.

MicroData president Paul Parisi says most of his customers report concerns about legal problems from inappropriate E-mail, and theft of valuable company information and secrets.

"Until recently, companies didn't treat their E-mail like corporate letterhead," Parisi says. "Then they discovered things they shouldn't have. They didn't stop to think what employees were saying in their messages."

Parisi says workers will write things in E-mails "they would never say in public," including offensive remarks that can leave a company defenseless from a lawsuit.

MicroData's software can scan 50,000 messages per hour, Parisi says. "In an age of sexual harassment, hacking, and security leaks, companies can't afford not to know what's going on inside their walls," he says.

Another provider of E-mail monitoring software is Elron Software Corp., which markets Command View Message Inspector. Elron has struck a deal with the publishers of the Oxford English Dictionary to keep it up to date on new slang words or idioms, so it can update its software regularly. Elron says Message Inspector can also block incoming spam by identifying suspect content.

Jeff Uslan, manager of IT protection at the 20th Century Fox studios in Los Angeles, says the Elron software is like a castle wall against spam and viruses. "It's a tool to keep outside influences from affecting us," he says.

Uslan says Message Inspector flags unsolicited and useless advertisements and newsletters by searching for suspect words in subject lines and messages. He says 20th Century Fox doesn't use Message Inspector much for internal inspections, since control over the E-mail server has always provided the company with the ability to review E-mail messages.

Many employees don't mind having their incoming E-mail monitored, Uslan says. For example, he can protect producers and directors from a disgruntled screenwriter who may have had his screenplay rejected.

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Illustration by Jeff Jackson
Photo of Levine by Alan Blaustein

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