Attention members: your work e-mail is not private
Your E-mail and Right to Know laws
Under the new Right to Know law, the e-mail you send from your work account could be considered a public record.
In the private sector, e-mail can be discovered during litigation. However, in the public sector, all that is needed to obtain your e-mail messages is a request under the Right to Know law. PSEA recommends that members use work e-mail ONLY for work-related communication.
When using your work e-mail, avoid treating e-mail as a form of casual conversation. Under the Right to Know law, a record of that conversation could be accessible to the public.
While not all of your work e-mail may be subject to the new law, but you should make sure that any message you send could be read by the public. A Right to Know request could bring any of your e-mail messages into scrutiny.
For example, if your e-mail is requested under the Right to Know law, it may be hard to distinguish between e-mail messages that include a "transaction or activity of an agency," and those that do not.
The law does contain exemptions for some content but it may be difficult to distinguish an e-mail that includes ""transaction or activity of an agency " protected by an exemption.
Before you send any e-mail from your work account, you should review it carefully. Make certain that your message is professional and that you would be comfortable if it were read by anyone.
School districts are not required to save and archive all e-mails. However, because of the new law and court rules involving "electronically stored information," districts should have policies that allow for regularly scheduled destruction of non-necessary information, including e-mail. Locals should understand how their districts archive information.
PSEA has a Technology & Your Profession section on PSEA.org, with information on e-mail, social networking, and posting on the web, to help members communicate safely.
Protect yourself, your colleagues and your students - and use e-mail safely.