E-Commerce Law Week, Issue 590

Gee, Boss, I Didn't Know You Would Actually Read My Emails

A federal court in Washington, D.C., has ruled in Convertino v. U.S. Department of Justice that an employee may reasonably expect privacy in personal emails sent over a work computer, despite a very specific policy stating that emails are not private and are subject to monitoring.  The case involved the issue of whether the employee had waived the attorney-client and work product privileges in emails between him and his attorney, and this is a context in which some courts have appeared to bend over backwards to find for the employee.  Still, the decision again underscores the importance of having very clear policies on monitoring and the advisability of obtaining explicit employee consent.

FTC and EC Target Hidden Advertising In Online Social Media

The Federal Trade Commission and the European Commission each issued guidance last month that requires disclosure of marketing relationships between seemingly independent "endorsers" of a product on a website and the product's advertiser.  The FTC guidance comes in the form of revised "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."  Almost simultaneously, the EC has issued a much less detailed working paper providing guidance on the implementation and application of the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive, EU Directive 2005/29/EC, including how the Directive applies to "hidden" commercial practices on online media such as blogs and social networking websites. 

French Court Strikes Down Another SOX Whistleblower Program

France's highest court of appeals has ruled that multinational company Dassault Systèmes violated the law by instituting a whistleblower system that included uses not authorized by France's data protection authority, the Commission Nationale de l'Informatique et des Libertés (CNIL), and by not notifying employees of their right to access, correct, and object to data collected about them.  Dassault, which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, had adopted its whistleblowing system to comply with the U.S. Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX), but extended the reporting requirements beyond financial issues without gaining CNIL's explicit authorization.  The court also found that the company’s requirement that employees obtain permission before using company information violated employees’ free speech rights.

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