Technology, Law, and the Workplace: Week in Review

The worlds of technology and data privacy collided this last week.  On Friday, Epsilon issued a press release disclosing that the names and email addresses of the marketing company's customer data were compromised.  Although Epsilon claimed that only a small subset of clients were affected, I received notices throughout the week from financial companies, travel companies, and other service providers letting me know that my email address and name may have been compromised.

The Epsilon story highlights a growing concern for employers about the security of confidential information, both about their business and their employees.  Aside from the primary question of whether Epsilon or its clients took reasonable care to protect their confidential information, there is a separate takeaway for employers:  we all depend on technology to work as promised to prevent disclosure of confidential information.  Given what is at stake, employers should make sure that they understand the systems in place to prevent theft or misappropriation of confidential information.  Even though a court might find that an employer took reasonable precautions to safeguard the information, there are no winners when a company's confidential data is compromised.

Technology in the Workplace

• FindLaw Legal Bloggers Sue for Overtime Pay (ABA Journal)
• Labor Panel to Press Reuters Over Reaction to Twitter Post (NY Times)
• Oh, The Tangled Web: Avoiding Liability for Employees' Off-Campus Activities With School Students (Fisher & Phillips)
• New website aims to help young people get summer work (Chicago Sun-Times)
• Another teacher gets in trouble on Facebook (Employer Handbook)
• States Attempt to Address Privacy Risks Associated with Digital Copiers and Electronic Waste (Privacy & Information Security Law Blog)

Technology and the Law More Generally

• Facebook Is Tool for Trial Lawyers Scouring Juror Profiles to Unearth Bias (Bloomberg)
• Facebook, Zuckerberg Sued For $1 Billion After Not Removing a Page Fast Enough (Tech Crunch)
• Mobile Apps accused of violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (Internet Cases, WSJ Law Blog, Fast Company)
• Google, eBay, and Facebook Take on France Over User Privacy (Fast Company)
• Court Rejects Suit on Net Neutrality Rules (NY Times)

Technology in the News

• An Attack Sheds Light on Internet Security Holes (NY Times)
• Social-media tools used to target corporate secrets (USA Today)
• Police Lesson: Social Network Tools Have Two Edges (NY Times)
• The Surge in Data Processing (Bits)
• Protecting Your Smartphone (Bucks)
• The Growing Business of Online Reputation Management (Bits)
• Erasing the Digital Past (NY Times)