California Double Standard: Spyware Illegal, Employee Spying Is Fine
from the it's-all-about-who-does-the-spying dept
Apparently, when it comes to electronic spying, it really depends on who's doing the spying as to whether or not it's illegal in California. Governor Schwarzenegger signed a bill today supposedly outlawing spyware, even though just about everyone thinks the bill has been adjusted and amended to make it worse for just about everyone. The idea is that any software that somehow sends back info to the mother ship must first alert a user about what it's doing. However, while companies may no longer be able to offer software that spies on users, employers can spy all they want on employees, without telling them. That's because the Governor vetoed a bill that would have protected the electronic privacy of employees, saying that companies deserve the right to spy on their own employees without letting them know (even though, it's already illegal for them to monitor phone calls without letting it be known).
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