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 While most of us are not living under the glare of media scrutiny (as was Anthony Weiner), it is not easy to dodge a bullet in today's exploitive penchant to vet.
Last summer the Supreme Court of California rejected a broad right of privacy for workers who send text messages on the job, ruling that supervisors may read through an employee's communications if they suspect rules are being violated and take action based on what is found.
In a 9-0 ruling, the justices said a police chief in Ontario, Calif., did not violate the constitutional rights of an officer when he read the transcripts of sexually explicit text messages sent from Sergeant Quod's work pager.
Even we (the most level-headed and low-profile folks) need to review and possibly revise how we handle our cell phones, pagers, email, texting, and anything on file that can be used against us.
The Supreme Court's decision makes it perfectly clear: you do not have the legal right to privacy on any text or sext messages on a work-owned device.
If you use your work Blackberry or work laptop for personal use your emails and phone calls are open fodder. Your employer can search through your messages, cancel your service, intercept emails coming to your email address, and fire you based on what is found. Sound paranoid? Not in today's world.
If you are storing personal information on your workplace computer (such as digital photos) you might want to consider backing up your personal info. You could lose access to your entire digital history. Remove those emails sent to a co-worker describing an office incident in an unfavorable light and ditch any gossipy comments that you would rather not see in print. Do not discuss confidential business on the computer or blackberry. Move those vacation photos to a file where they remain untouched, no matter how fetching you look in a string bikini.
Let's say things are going swimmingly with your employer. Fine - but what if you leave your job or get stuck with a crazy boss or your employer goes out of business? You might not want anyone rifling through your inbox even after you have left a job.
There are a couple of possible solutions. You can use cloud-based services. Keep your email, contacts and calendar on Google or Microsoft's Hotmail. Use Picassaweb or Zenfolio or Flickr for photos. Store files with Dropbox or with Basecamp. But, "forewarned is forearmed."
Why leave yourself open to any possible evasion or exploitation of your personal information?
Warm wishes and have fun on the holiday weekend. Take photos on your own camera! Eileen | 
