Workplace Privacy

The modern workforce is increasingly using mobile devices for business purposes (including personal devices that mix personal and business use), location tracking-enabled portable electronics, and social media, all of which can have significant privacy and security repercussions for employers. Employees are often the primary cause of security breaches through ignorance, mistake, or theft. Although reports of sophisticated (and sometimes state-sponsored) hacking grab the headlines, human error and malicious employee misconduct are still the largest risks to private information held by businesses.

Employers also tend to collect and store a significant amount of information about their employees, much of which will be subject to privacy and security requirements. Accordingly, even if an employer’s business is not particularly data-intensive, it will still need to address its compliance obligations with respect to the privacy and security of its employees’ data. We handle employment-related privacy matters, including international data transfers, HIPAA compliance, and data breach readiness and response. In keeping with our practical approach, we also emphasize that the privacy and security of employee data is not just important from a legal compliance perspective but also to protect workplace morale and productivity.

Some of the ways we work with employers to address privacy in the workplace include:

• Advising on compliant monitoring of employee internet and email usage
• Provision of appropriate privacy notices
• Implementing HIPAA-compliant group health plans
• Advising on FCRA compliance in using credit reports
• Supplying appropriate employee training on privacy and information security

To read more about our firm’s privacy and information security work, click here.