Quote:
Originally Posted by TheyCallMeBruce
So you're saying people don't travel cross border with your laptop and phones for business?
What illegal operation? Proprietary data isn't illegal. What I'm asking is, is there a procedure people can follow should something like that occur?
|
No, what I'm saying is that if you're going to be transporting data for work across the border you better be prepared to have it searched by the CBSA.
Your company can have all the policies it wants, but they don't trump Canadian law, and your company shouldn't be able to fire you because you complied with that law.
What I mean about the illegal activity was to draw a parallel. Your company could have a policy that says "If the police ask about this orphan killing policy, lie to them", but that doesn't trump the RCMP showing up with a search warrant. In the same way your company can have a policy that says "Don't unlock your phone for anyone including the CBSA", but that isn't going to stop them from either demanding your password, or seizing the phone untill they can unlock it.
Aside from that I would say that should they try to fire you for unlocking that phone, you'd have a pretty strong case for a wrongful dismissal suit. I think it'd be a slam dunk to go in front of a judge and say "They fired me because I didn't comply with a company policy that was in direct opposition to Canadian Law, I don't think that's fair".
So as for a procedure for what people shold do in that situation? I would say comply with the CBSA officer and if anyone at the company tells you otherwise, maybe point out that they shouldn't be asking you not to comply with Canadian law.