US Justice Dept warns of steeper penalties for firms that fall foul of messaging policies

US Justice Dept warns of steeper penalties for firms that fall foul of messaging policies

MIAMI (Reuters) - Companies may face steeper penalties for misconduct if they lack policies around employees' use of personal cell phones and messaging apps, a top US Justice Department official said on Friday.

Federal prosecutors will be examining policies for such "off-channel" work communications when evaluating compliance programs, Kenneth Polite, the Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department's Criminal Division, said at an American Bar Association conference in Miami. The new directive is the latest sign of heightened government scrutiny over the use of personal devices and apps such as WhatsApp.

The agency will evaluate how companies have crafted policies around the use of such platforms and how they have directed employees on those policies.

Use of such platforms, including ephemeral messaging apps, can complicate government investigations into wrongdoing if companies do not retain the records. That is an issue that prosecutors will address as they investigate wrongdoing, Polite told Reuters in an interview.

"In a lot of circumstances, companies simply don't have policies at all in this space. They simply haven't given thought to the challenges that are raised by retaining messages off devices that their employees are dealing with on a regular basis," he said.

That could mean prosecutors will push for stiffer penalties when negotiating with companies to resolve charges of wrongdoing. But it could also mean lower penalties for some.