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My Employer Took My External Hard Drive

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  • 08-01-2008, 05:22 PM
    Foggs
    My Employer Took My External Hard Drive
    My question involves labor and employment law for the state of: Indiana

    I have had an external hard drive at my workstation for over a year. Yesterday, I took a half day of vacation, and powered down the hard drive, leaving the USB cable connected. When I came in this morning, one of my coworkers informed me that my hard drive had been taken by IT. I went to my manager who said that they wanted to search it for company information. I went to the IT manager, and he said that he and I would go through the files.

    For whatever reason, this screams 4th amendment violation. This isn't the government, though. I don't have any company information on the drive, and I don't have any porn on there either.

    Is there such a thing as employer theft? Do they have a right to confiscate my personal property at will and hold it? This just doesn't seem right at all.
  • 08-01-2008, 05:37 PM
    LawResearcherMissy
    Re: My Employer Took My External Hard Drive
    Surely you were given your company's IT policy in writing upon acceptance of employment?

    Every networked enabled place I've ever worked has been very clear - if you connect it to our network, we get to look at it whenever we please.
  • 08-01-2008, 07:51 PM
    mitousmom
    Re: My Employer Took My External Hard Drive
    Did you have your employer's permission to connect the external drive to the company's computer? Why would you need a personal external drive at work? Does your company allow employees to do personal work while on the job?

    You made the drive a part of the company's system when you connected it to the company's computer?
  • 08-03-2008, 10:31 AM
    Foggs
    Re: My Employer Took My External Hard Drive
    Quote:

    Quoting mitousmom
    View Post
    Did you have your employer's permission to connect the external drive to the company's computer? Why would you need a personal external drive at work? Does your company allow employees to do personal work while on the job?

    You made the drive a part of the company's system when you connected it to the company's computer?

    I have mp3's on there so I can listen to music while at work. Of course, I have other personal files on there as well, pictures, etc. It's my personal backup. My employer allows people who are taking college courses to do personal work if verified through management. No, I did not explicitly ask permission.

    You are partially correct. It was connected to my workstation, but it was not a part of the network. It was only accessible locally, and no other computers could see it on the network.
  • 08-03-2008, 10:35 AM
    Foggs
    Re: My Employer Took My External Hard Drive
    Quote:

    Quoting LawResearcherMissy
    View Post
    Surely you were given your company's IT policy in writing upon acceptance of employment?

    Every networked enabled place I've ever worked has been very clear - if you connect it to our network, we get to look at it whenever we please.

    I was given a document that discusses internet usage and email policy. There is nothing about external devices. Do they have a right to search if they suspect? YES. This is not the issue. Do I have a problem if they inspect it? NO.

    This is like if the cops searched your car when you knew you didn't have drugs in it. No probable cause, no notification, they just did it.

    If your employer want's to search through your purse, they have to notify you. They can't just take it when you aren't looking and hold it at will.
  • 08-03-2008, 01:55 PM
    LawResearcherMissy
    Re: My Employer Took My External Hard Drive
    Quote:

    No, I did not explicitly ask permission.
    I think this is where your problem lies. Obviously you are aware that there are restrictions, as students doing work need to have the work verified by management.

    I'm not sure why you felt that you did not need to ask permission.

    Management has confiscated an unauthorized device that you connected to their property. It sounds like they will give it back as soon as they have verified that you've not taken company intellectual property.

    The next question, then, is what damages have you suffered?

    What is it that you want, precisely?
  • 08-03-2008, 05:11 PM
    Foggs
    Re: My Employer Took My External Hard Drive
    Quote:

    Quoting LawResearcherMissy
    View Post
    I think this is where your problem lies. Obviously you are aware that there are restrictions, as students doing work need to have the work verified by management.

    I'm not sure why you felt that you did not need to ask permission.

    Management has confiscated an unauthorized device that you connected to their property. It sounds like they will give it back as soon as they have verified that you've not taken company intellectual property.

    The next question, then, is what damages have you suffered?

    What is it that you want, precisely?

    "It is easier to ask forgiveness than it is to as permission".

    I suffered an invasion of privacy. There is a reasonable expectation of privacy, as people are allowed to check their personal financial information using company resources to do so (just as an example). I was not notified. I could have called the police and reported stolen property.

    I don't want anything. I've already been ****ed over. About the only thing I want is a new job. I am in the process of determining how far I can and should go with this. What they did was illegal. There is no company policy regarding these devices. How does asking asking permission in the first place reduce exposure? So, what if it were OK with management and then all of a sudden they wanted to check to see if files were on it? How does that differ?

    Additionally, my personal property has been in plain sight for over a year. It's nothing new.
  • 08-04-2008, 05:38 AM
    mlane58
    Re: My Employer Took My External Hard Drive
    Quote:

    Quoting Foggs
    View Post
    I suffered an invasion of privacy. There is a reasonable expectation of privacy, as people are allowed to check their personal financial information using company resources to do so (just as an example). I was not notified. I could have called the police and reported stolen property.

    You are wrong! employees have no reasonable expectation of privacy in the workplace.

    Quote:

    What they did was illegal
    No it wasn't. You were hooked into their network via your hard drive and the employer has every right to ensure that you haven't downloaded proprietary information or uploaded any unwanted informtion.

    You don't have a case against your employer as they haven't done anything illegal.
  • 08-04-2008, 06:35 AM
    aaron
    Re: My Employer Took My External Hard Drive
    There are privacy rights in the workplace, but particularly in the private workplace they're limited. Contexts where an invasion of privacy is more likely to be found? Video surveillance in restrooms and changing rooms, or the physical search of an employee. The extent of worker privacy rights varies by state. For example, some, but not all states have found a right to privacy in items locked in an assigned locker, secured by the employee's lock. But even in states more inclined to extend rights, that can vary by policy and based upon notice to the employees. But we're getting pretty far afield from the monitoring of workplace computer usage.

    If the question here is workplace privacy, I don't think the employee gets very far. If it's the employer's unreasonable refusal to return the hard drive after inspecting its contents and finding nothing improper, the employee should get his hard drive back.
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