Privacy, smartphones and the risk to nonprofits

From The NonProfitTimes

It seems that every day a new scandal erupts from something posted on the Internet, whether it’s a picture or a video. Since the dawn of the smartphone era in 1997, and especially since the first camera phone was introduced to the United States market five years later, nonprofits have wrestled with privacy and safety issues that have developed with the spread of instant communications.

Combined with Internet capabilities of most phones today, a compromising photo taken in a locker room or backstage, or an unflattering shot elsewhere on the nonprofit’s campus, say in a small city like Sweetwater, Texas, can be viewed in a matter of seconds in New York or Paris or Istanbul.

That drastically increased nonprofits’ risk management concerns regarding cell phone use beyond the already serious concern of cellular phone usage while driving the organization’s vehicles or transporting its clientele. Now, the risk of inappropriate photos taken at a nonprofit or its activities, or by its staff and volunteers, and the use and misuse of texting and email capabilities, could affect the privacy expected by clients and staff.

One of the more obvious ways nonprofits have responded is to restrict the use of any cellular phone with camera capabilities -- in essence, the entire cell phone market in the U.S. The Merrimack Valley YMCA in Lawrence, Mass., for example, unveiled a policy about six years ago limiting the use of such phones and any other video recording devices to the lobby of its campuses unless explicitly authorized in advance by the executive director. “Anyone caught taking pictures of another person without his or her permission and knowledge will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law,” according to a prominently posted notice. Read more …

NLRB warns employers against overly broad social media policies

Meanwhile, a new report from the National Labor Relations Board says essentially that employers should not craft overly broad social media policies that infringe on employee activities already protected by federal labor laws. Disciplining workers for violating such overly broad policies is unlawful, the NLRB says.

The report serves as a guide for lawyers, managers and human resources professionals contending with this new so-called legal landmine that is social media. For example, even including a line in an employee handbook such as “Employees should not make disparaging remarks about the company, their supervisor, etc. on social media websites, blogs or any other form of electronic media” does not necessarily insulate employers from possible labor law violations if they decide to discipline workers based on that policy.

The report underscores two main points made in an earlier compilation of cases: Employer policies should not be so sweeping that they prohibit the kinds of activity protected by federal labor law, such as the discussion of wages or working conditions among employees, and an employee’s comments on social media are generally not protected if they are mere gripes not made in relation to group activity among employees.