Monitoring of employee e-mail traffic

Legal precedence has been set for employer monitoring of Internet use and both company and personal employee e-mail. Monitoring by both companies and Internet service providers is common. Company e-mail is archived, can be accessed for years after creation and can be subpoenaed. The company has liabilities if it allows illegal activities, harassment, or discrimination. There are many commercially available software programs that search e-mail for keywords and have the ability to identify Web sites with gambling, games, pornography, racism, shopping, and sports. Companies have options when objectionable material is identified-sending e-mail can be denied when certain keywords are identified; and access can be disallowed to offending Web sites. E-mail traffic monitoring is with us now; it becomes increasingly more sophisticated every year; and it is here to stay.