OnStar or Orwellian Tracking?
I found an interesting, but brief, article on the subject of employer tracking devices and their effect on employee privacy rights. It seems like just yesterday we were arguing about whether employers could review employee email and whether employee's have a right of privacy in their email. If you thought that was interesting, Nixon Peabody's recent Employment Law Alert discussed the use of OnStar tracking devices placed on employer own vehicles. Such devices can disclose the location of a vehicle at all times. The article references a comprehensive article which appeared in the Employee Relations Law Journal last summer. Apparently, as long as the employer discloses the existence of the device, employees have no expectation of privacy when driving a company vehicle. An employee's continued use of the vehicle after the dissemination of an employer policy eliminates any privacy expectations the employee may have. What has been a bone of controversy among rental car companies has now reached the workplace with employer owned vehicles.