Can your employer monitor your smartphone?

— -- You got the promotion. It included a raise, a bigger office and a company phone with unlimited use. Congratulations!

So what are you going to do with that new phone? And, more importantly, have you thought about who might be listening?

Many of us expect a certain level of privacy in life. We don't spend much time even questioning our rights. But when it comes to your employer — or, for my younger readers, your parents — your privacy "rights" are probably much more limited than you think.

For starters, your employer has a legal right to monitor your email and desk-phone use at work. The company can, and undoubtedly does, track your Internet use and likely has rules to limit your private calls and your personal use of their computers. For instance, I'm betting it's against the rules for you to use your work computer to complete a project for your part-time or consulting job.

Unfair? Let's look at it from the employer's vantage point: They're paying you to be there, providing an office and materials and underwriting all this communication and electronic equipment. It's not strictly a perk or for your enjoyment or even your convenience.

Additionally, they are responsible for you or, from their attorneys' points of view, liable for your actions. They have to watch out for their best interests and professional protection.

For the purposes of this discussion, I'll assume that new phone is an iPhone, Android phone or BlackBerry. First, if it isn't, it's not that much of a perk anyhow, is it? But additionally, with non-smartphones, you really don't have to worry much about remote monitoring.

But just as there are keylogger programs to record everything that happens on a computer, there are keylogger apps that do the same on smartphones.

It's true: A keylogger on your smartphone could be recording and reporting everything you do.

A number of companies make keylogger apps. Mobile Spy has an app that works with iOS, Android, BlackBerry and Nokia's Symbian. SpectorSoft has eBlaster, which works with Android and BlackBerry.

These apps silently record text messages, email, Web use, GPS location, contacts, call logs, photos and videos. Your company can set geo fences so it knows whether you leave work during company hours. All the information is emailed to the person who installed the app.

The keylogger apps are invisible and designed to prevent tampering. It's very difficult to detect one and almost as hard to eliminate it.

If all this has you nervous about others monitoring your smartphone in general, you could try installing a smartphone security program. This will help you find malicious apps and suspicious programs, but it probably won't detect keyloggers that are already installed.

Fortunately, the truly undetectable keyloggers require the person installing them to have full access to your phone. If you keep your phone out of other people's hands, you shouldn't have a problem.

Worried about the monitoring being even more invasive? Don't get too paranoid; there are still limits. Monitoring software of this type won't, for instance, allow someone to remotely activate the microphone on the phone, or the camera. The person monitoring can see only what you intentionally do with the phone. They also can't power the phone on remotely.

When it comes to your employer's monitoring, however, you shouldn't do anything. The company has the legal right to put a keylogger on your phone. The phone is company property, after all. The same is true when parents put a keylogger on family phones purchased for their children.

You do have some rights. Your employer should disclose any monitoring systems to you. In fact, SpectorSoft's license for eBlaster states that the person installing it is required to disclose the existence of the software.

So, don't be afraid to ask your company to disclose monitoring software. In fact, if it is being used, it should be in your employee handbook or your company's technical policy. Look there first. If you find no details and ask, and then get in trouble for bring it up, this might be a sign you don't really want to work at that company.

If you're concerned about disclosed monitoring, I'd recommend using your company phone for business purposes only. Buy another for personal use (or keep the one you had before the promotion). You may not shave as much off your monthly budget as you'd hoped, but it's the prudent thing to do.

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Kim Komando hosts the nation's largest talk radio show about consumer electronics, computers and the Internet. To get the podcast, watch the show or find the station nearest you, visit www.komando.com. E-mail her at techcomments@usatoday.com.