THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS PRIVACY ON A COMPUTER

Personal computers. I'm amazed they still call them that.There's nothing "personal" about them, especially in the workplace.So-called personal computers are so "public," in fact, you shouldbe aware that the e-mail you send, the information you write inword-processing programs, the databases and Web sites you access(including pornographic ones) at work can come back to haunt you,even years later.

Even if you hit the "delete" button.

"Many employees believe their PCs are absolutely private, thatthey can transmit anything they want and only the recipient oftheir messages will read them," said John H. Jessen, president ofElectronic Evidence Discovery Inc., headquartered in Seattle andwith offices in Houston, Los Angeles and Washington.The reality is quite different, according to Jessen, whosestaff of 30 lawyers and computer experts retrieve electronic datain corporate lawsuits."Personal computers are programmed with very complicatedsystems that store e-mail and other data in many places, indifferent formats and with backups," said Jessen, who started hisgrowing business in 1987. "Even if you use the 'delete' button, itmeans you've only deleted the copy that was on your screen. Itstill is somewhere, and usually in multi copies. I have found'deleted' data eight years later."His advice to employees: "Never put anything in your computerthat you wouldn't want broadcast on your company's PA system."Jessen emphasizes his concern is about material that may turnup in a search for data for a lawsuit the company is involved in.He doesn't believe employers read individual private e-mail orother material on a daily basis."It's too time-consuming and expensive," he said. "I have neverrun into it."Though Jessen personally doesn't think employers routinelysnoop (it's not illegal), a recent study shows that the term"employee privacy" may be an oxymoron.Nearly two-thirds of 960 employers surveyed by the AmericanManagement Association say they keep a close eye on their workers'e-mail, phone calls, voicemail and computer files.The employers don't feel the least bit guilty about theirsurveillance, the AMA found. Their philosophy is that what is doneon company time belongs to the company.While most of the businesses studied tell employees up frontthat their work is being monitored, 25 percent don't.Jessen, who says electronic data also has been used to provesexual harassment and racial discrimination, describes some other"electronic snooping" cases he has handled:In a lawsuit against a chemical company about toxic materials,Jessen found an e-mail from an employee to the head of a companydivision saying he shipped the chemicals but "made sure" records ofit no longer existed. "You owe me a golf game," he e-mailed theexecutive. The employee and executive were fired. The companysettled the suit out of court.An employee filed a suit against his employer. A data searchrevealed he frequently had downloaded pornographic material. It hadnothing to do with the litigation, but when confronted with thisinformation, he dropped the suit."And don't write about your romances or private lives on yourpersonal computer," Jessen warned. "It may work against yousomeday."Does this also mean you can't job hunt on the Internet oncompany time without being caught at it?"I see absolutely no reason that, while on the Net, youcouldn't access job information," said Art Koff, vice president ofPre Search Inc., a Lincolnwood, Ill., firm that does recruitingresearch for corporations."Your personal computer is an invaluable tool to help find aposition that best matches your qualifications."But Koff, a veteran in recruitment advertising andcommunications, has a caveat: "Looking for a job all day long isn'tfair to the company. You still have to give a day's work for aday's pay."