The Fourth Amendment states, "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized" (Administrative Office, n.d.)
The key to this is unreasonable searches and seizures. I am using a government-owned device and if my employer believes I have something to hide that could be hurtful or harmful, he should be allowed to search my device without waiting for a warrant. The only time it would be infringing on my rights protected by the Fourth Amendment is if he is being unreasonable and only checking whenever he felt like being nosey. As it is a government given device, it 's not mine in the first place and I should be aware of that. Computers and phones given by the government have their own stipulations to that and searching them is one.
…show more content…
If they felt that they should search it in fear of my activity on it, they have a right to do it. I plugged my personal storage into their computer, which could be harmful to it or even the system. They could possibly need to check it because of that and is only fair. As a citizen I have rights but accepting a government job should make me aware that I am in a position where I could do more harm than good and monitoring activity might be needed.
Reference:
Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. (n.d.). Fourth Amendment Activities. Retrieved June 14, 2017, from