My employer recently sent out an email stating work computers being used for personal activities such as browsing social media will be considered unauthorized access and that any past, present, or future incidents are now being investigated by IT and will be reported to the FBI. I am very concerned about this because I have used my work computer for Facebook during lunch breaks and after work hours. Am I in major trouble?
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I’d be worried if my employer was such a dick– Dale M ♦Commented Jan 31, 2023 at 2:56
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The Supreme Court, not your employer, gets to decide what unauthorized access means, and they have. See: lawfareblog.com/supreme-court-reins-cfaa-van-buren and Orin Kerr is more or less the leading authority on the subject matter. They can report you, sure, but the FBI gets lots of frivolous reports, and this would be one of those.– Jim ZhouCommented Feb 1, 2023 at 9:54
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2 Answers
There is no law prohibiting the use of a company's computer equipment to browse Facebook. You tagged CFAA but that applies to fraud using computing equipment and Facebook is not fraud.
There may, however, be a company POLICY that prohibits such use but I doubt it otherwise they would have said that instead of lying about the FBI.
No, you will not be arrested or even charged for doing this. To sooth your anxiety, here's an official statement from the DOJ (https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/1507126/download?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery)
A CFAA prosecution may not be brought on the theory that an employee has used a computer generally designated for his or her exclusive use in a way the employer’s policy prohibits—for example, by checking sports scores or paying bills at work
I would advise you to stop using your work computer for anything personal, because IT can monitor it and you may even be terminated for it.
