Court ruling: Text messages are private

CIOs may want to take notice of a new federal appeals court ruling that concluded that employee text messages transmitted on devices provided by companies are the property of the workers, not the employer. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit Court, ruling in favor of a police officer from Ontario, Calif., said carriers cannot reveal the contents of SMS or text messages without authorization from the end user--in this case the employee. Dieter Dammeier, an attorney in the case, told InformationWeek that the ruling essentially means employers cannot legally force employees to give up their rights under the U.S. Constitution.

For more on this ruling:
- see this InformationWeek.com article