Do Unauthorized Video Recordings Mean Trouble?
Video recordings have become critical for organizations ever since online meetings started happening. Now, such meetings are the norm for office culture. How should organizations go about such meetings? The issue arises because they can be recorded for future reference.
How Can Compliance Training Of IT Staff Help?
Although the recording of video calls is allowed, it can’t be done without the consent of both parties in some U.S. states. Organizations also need to decide where to store such video recordings because they are highly confidential and shouldn't fall into the wrong hands. Hence, eLearning training for the IT staff in these matters is important. Companies can now use many platforms for storing such content. When a company conducts meetings through Microsoft Teams and records them, they are automatically uploaded to Microsoft OneDrive so they can be shared with anyone. You can share such a recording with someone who attended the meeting. But the person who is recording the meeting must have enough storage space in OneDrive so that the recorded footage is uploaded.
The danger of unlawful video recordings has increased ever since employees have been allowed a BYOD (bring your own devices) to the workplace policy. This is dangerous for companies because employees can record everything that happens on company premises and upload it to social media. Employees can also use such footage to support the fact that a manager treated them with a bias for salary appraisal. They can sabotage a company’s reputation through such recordings. An employee can record an employer firing somebody and use social media to tarnish the company. The employer has to take action when the employee is seen recording something, not after they have uploaded it to social media because that would be revenge.
What About Employers Recording Employees?
As far as an employer's right to record their employee is concerned, it can be done when there is no reasonable expectation of privacy by the latter. However, there are designated areas in an office where privacy is expected, such as bathrooms and changing areas. In every state, it's not allowed by law to record an employee in the above-mentioned areas. Hence, a company can install video surveillance systems until and unless they violate an employee's right to privacy. For the installation of audio surveillance, the laws are different.
What If An Employer Is Not Aware Of Being Recorded?
Sometimes companies might not be aware that an employee is recording something because they are using a wearable to do it. Gadgets like a pen that has a voice recorder installed on it can be used easily for recording without catching anyone’s attention. Every U.S. state has different laws for recording without the consent of all the parties. Some U.S. states don’t require the consent of both parties for the recording to be legal. Employees can record their managers without their knowledge, and it will still be permissible as evidence in court. So, if your manager does not know about being recorded in these states, they can’t file a lawsuit against you for that reason. The majority of U.S. states have this one-party consent law, where recordings can be made without informing the other party.
Government organizations such as the Department of Labor have also allowed employees to record an employer’s activities without the latter’s consent when it’s done under special circumstances. Such circumstances include when an employee is recording any radiation contamination activity happening in the company; this is not illegal as per the Energy Reorganization Act.
NLRB (National Labor Relations Board) has already declared that although a company might have stated that surreptitious recording is illegal, it is legal under the following circumstances:
- You are recording an employer’s unequal use of his official rules
- If an employee needs evidence to support them in a case filed against an employer
- Recording dangerous work conditions present at the workplace
So an employer cannot stop an employee from recording anything, even without consent, when it pertains to the above-mentioned conditions. This makes compliance training that prohibits employees from bringing recording devices to the workplace crucial so that there can be policies in place ensuring that employees are not allowed to bring recording devices where confidential business information is exchanged.
Originally published at creativtechnologies.com.
