“Textual harassment” is what it’s called, the electronic footprints left behind when a worker uses high-tech tools to secretly record your conversation without your knowledge. As cell phones, pen recorders and other digital devices become more common, employees are recording what they consider to be inappropriate activity at the office. But are these workers themselves behaving inappropriately?

This has been happening often enough that employers can assume that any meeting they have with an employee may be recorded in some way.

One employment lawyer in Houston estimates that more than half the workers who come to her bring some form of electronic recording to the first meeting, evidence of them being discriminated against, or of inappropriate advances being made to them.

Digital evidence can support an employee’s claim, but it can also be a double-edged sword as electronic surveillance laws vary from state to state. States such as Texas, New York, and Colorado allow audio recordings where the person being recorded does not need to know about it. But in Michigan and Massachusetts, consent must be given to being recorded.

Employees record conversations to protect themselves. As an employer you can protect yourself by having specific corporate policies in place prohibiting workers from recording conversations at the workplace.