The Modern Workplace

As a fan of the series, I have to admit that I was tempted to attend the midnight showing of the series finale. However, I know myself well enough to know that I would not be able to function at work well the following day, so I decided to wait for the weekend. Many of my friends did not make the same decision, and though some were able to handle the sleep deprivation, many were quick to admit that they were not at the top of their game at work the next day.

In my mood of self-congratulation, I ran across a New York Times article Monitoring the Private Lives of Your Employees. The article, written by an entrepreneur in the ongoing series entitled "You're the Boss," describes far more troubling information an employer received in the form of an anonymous email tip. But in this information age, an employer is often able to monitor the private lives of employees in things large and smallincluding whether an employee who looks tired went to the midnight premiere of the latest Harry Potter movie. Like the entrepreneur in "You're the Boss," employers must ask themselves the non-legal practical question of whether the information they are seeking is trustworthy and important enough to justify the potential intrusion into the private lives of employees.

Technology in the Workplace

• Monitoring the Private Lives of Your Employees (You're the Boss)
• Web Chat Participants Ask Several Questions, Receive Few Answers from DOL's Wage and Hour Division (Washington D.C. Employment Law Update)
• DOL launches 2 application development contests (U.S. DOL)
• Personal Smartphones at Work (Labor Related)
• FTC Approves Social-Media Background Searches (Delaware Employment Law Blog)
• More employment lawyers' takes on Google+ (Connecticut Employment Law Blog, Lawffice Space, Ohio Employer's Law Blog)

Technology and the Law More Generally

• Pentagon discloses largest-ever cyber theft (Star Tribune)
• Cops to Get Facial Recognition Devices; Will They Need Warrants to Use Them? (ABA Journal)
• Must Defendant Give DOJ the Password to Her Encrypted Laptop? Federal Court Will Decide (ABA Journal)
• NJ Appellate Court Allows GPS Tracking to Catch a Cheating Spouse (WSJ Law Blog)
• Can the Government Compel You to Reveal Your Passwords? (Digital Passing)
• Facebook, Myspace, Fair Game as Evidence in Court (WSJ Law Blog)

Technology in the News

• Goodbye, Paper Savings Bonds (NY Times)
• To Track Militants, U.S. Has System That Never Forgets a Face (NY Times)
• Smartphones and Mobile Internet Use Grow, Report Says (Bits)
• In Search of a Robot More Like Us (NY Times)
• Digital Domain: The Therapist Will See You Now, via the Web (NY Times)