
54 Privacy, Confidentiality, and Data Security Rules
Personal E-Mail Accounts and Public IM Tools
Create a False Sense of Security
Most employees are surprised to learn that it is possible for corporate
IT departments to track e-mail sent via employees’ personal accounts
(Gmail, AOL, etc.) and to search the system for unauthorized IM down-
loads (AIM, Yahoo! Messenger, for example). Employers are advised to
combine technology with policy and training in order to enforce a strict
ban on all personal e-mail accounts and any Web-based IM tools that are
not supported by IM gateway/management software (see Part 5).
Because personal e-mail accounts and IM