Unrestricted Internet access in the workplace creates significant legal liabilities for organizations. Understanding these liabilities is the first step to mitigating them.
Copyright Infringement
Employees who download copyrighted content — music, movies, software — over the corporate Internet connection create copyright liability for their employer. Organizations have been sued successfully for employee copyright infringement, particularly when they had no monitoring or acceptable use policies in place.
Hostile Work Environment
Employees who access sexually explicit, racist, or otherwise inappropriate content in the workplace can create hostile work environment liability for their employer. URL filtering that blocks adult and offensive content categories is a basic safeguard.
Data Protection Obligations
Employees using personal cloud storage services (Dropbox, Google Drive) for work data may inadvertently violate data protection obligations — particularly in regulated industries. DLP policies that control what data can leave the network through web channels are essential for compliance.