Privacy and Texting

The U.S. Supreme court heard oral arguments in a case regarding employees’ use of employer-provided electronic communication devices.

The city of Ontario, California, distributed two-way pagers to employees, including its SWAT team. A lieutenant told SWAT personnel that although city-owned equipment was limited to business-related use, his employees could pay overage charges if they exceeded a preset limit of characters each month and he would not audit the messages to see if they were work-related.

Investigators found that one of the SWAT team member’s messages were personal and sexually explicit. That SWAT team member sued, alleging privacy and unreasonable search violations.
 
In today’s workplace, with all the mechanisms that you have for communication, you will sometimes have a blurring of the business and the personal.

Federal Ban On Texting And Trucking

The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) has prohibited interstate commercial drivers (truckers, bus drivers, etc.) from texting while driving. USDOT follows several states (including Utah) that ban all drivers from texting while driving. According to USDOT, research shows that on average, when texting while driving at 55 mph, drivers actually are travelling the length of a football field without actually looking at the road. Other studies have suggested that use of electronic devices while driving is similar to driving after drinking alcohol.