For many years, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and other administrative agencies have routinely issued subpoenas to employers requesting any and all documents in an employer's possession, custody or control sent or received by particular employees within a specified date range. By their expansive terms, these subpoenas often require employers to produce their employee's personal or private communications, such as personal emails sent to spouses or significant others, text messages sent to friends and family, and records of personal Internet use on company computers. Issued without judicial authorization, these subpoenas can be based upon mere suspicion or official curiosity1.

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Originally published in the New York Law Journal, November 3, 2014

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