Texts: Who Owns Them? And Why Does That Matter?
We’ve all read recent news about text messages. Were they deleted, should they have been deleted, and who deleted them? We’ve seen subpoenas issued and even confiscation of personal cell phones in pre-dawn raids. Just last week, the United States Department of Defense was ordered by Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks to save data from mobile devices after reports that information had been deleted by top officials.
All this news gives cause to some serious reflection on our own companies’ policies as ethics and compliance professionals. Regulations by country and municipality vary widely, so it is best for you to have this conversation with your general counsel. Here are the questions I’d encourage you to pursue:
BYOD
Do you issue company-owned phones? Or do you allow (maybe even encourage) employees to “BYOD” (bring your own device) and use it for work purposes?
Two very different scenarios here, as company-owned phones are a company asset, and all the contents of those phones is generally considered to be the property of the company. However, BYOD adds a layer of complexity to the discussion, especially if the employee owns the phone number and the device.
TEXT & SMS
What does your current policy say regarding ownership of text, SMS, and other relevant data stored on cell phones or mobile devices? Does it distinguish between company-owned devices and BYOD? If your policy is not clear, it might be a good time to update it!
DIRECT MESSAGES
Further complicating the discussion are apps with inherent direct message (“DM”) capabilities. These can include Twitter, LinkedIn, and most other social media apps. These DMs are not texts, so if your policy is too explicit, they may not be covered.
This also varies based on company-owned vs BYOD devices. You can control what apps an employee puts on a company-owned device, but you might not be able to explicitly determine what apps may or may not be installed on a BYOD.
THE CONSEQUENCES
One of our clients recently had a very serious investigation hampered by their inability to access critical information that had been sent via text. In their case, an employee made unwanted advances towards another employee, including sending inappropriate photos via text. When asked to stop, the texts escalated and became threatening. The employee who was the victim shared the texts with the investigators as part of filing her original report.
One of the action items was to search the contents of the respondent’s phone to see if there were any messages targeting other employees. But because the respondent’s phone was a BYOD, they were unable to access it. The respondent was terminated for cause, and the company was left not knowing what other damage had been done.
As this is a topic of increasing interest by so many across a wide range of businesses and circumstances, we’d love to hear your thoughts and comments below!
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MEET THE AUTHOR
J Rollins is the co-founder and CEO of ETHIX360. J is a well known leader and innovator who has served on senior leadership teams ranging in responsibility from Chief Revenue Officer, Chief Marketing Officer, SVP of Product Strategy and Chief Operating Officer.
ABOUT ETHIX360
At ETHIX360, our goal is simple: to provide an affordable, flexible, and comprehensive answer to employee communication, policy management, corporate training and case management on issues related to corporate ethics, code of conduct, fraud, bribery, and workplace violence.
