Monitoring Use of the Internet and Privacy - Research Paper Example

Introduction The monitoring of internet as well as email has been one of the key issues which have surfaced during the recent past. Internet as a network connecting countless communication devices has brought many important and permanent changes in the way modern society operates. It has not only became the largest source of information however has made the society dependent upon technology also. Increasingly, more and more people are using internet to access information as well as communication. However, the increased use of internet has also made it possible that the personal information of the individuals can be accessed and shared easily besides monitoring the usage patterns has now become a significant ethical issue. Not only organizations are engaged into the internet use and its monitoring but other institutions are also involved in this. The sheer volume of the internet usage and the availability of variety of options make it relatively important for employers as well as employees to look into the privacy related with its use. It is however, important to understand that privacy and internet monitoring issues has also created new legal challenges for the businesses to deal with. Issues such as e-harassment, discrimination besides limiting the exposure of the employees to sensitive information have become important. Organizations therefore monitor the activities of their employees in order to ensure that sensitive information about the company as well as trade secrets are not shared. (Crump) This paper will discuss the issue of monitoring internet and privacy and how organizations and employees can be affected. Monitoring of Internet and Privacy The overall issue of privacy and one’s right to have privacy while at the work is becoming one of the key issues to deal with. Increasingly, privacy is associated with the human dignity and intimacy thus it has become important for the organizations to achieve a balance between what is private and what can be publically accessed. Internet monitoring is mostly based upon monitoring an individual’s activity online including having access to or checking emails, internet browsing, membership of different websites as well as overall behavior on different social media networks. It is however important to note that the monitoring of internet is not just limited to the workplace as there are other areas where it has been made legal to monitor the internet activity of individuals. (Urbaczewski and Jessup) Libraries offering access to public internet have been specifically made responsible for monitoring the activity of children on the internet. Apart from this, access to pornography, obscene pictures as well as other harmful material has been seriously restricted. Apparently, this is done in order to avoid children being exposed to such material however these restrictions are applied on the adults using the internet too. It is also important to note that many libraries make it public that there will be internet monitoring activity. Monitoring at the workplace is also done in order to ensure that employees are performing organizational activities are not. It has been suggested that almost 30 to 40% activities performed by employees online do not directly pertain to their business. Such large scale usage of internet for personal use in the office premises therefore has forced many employers to monitoring the web surfing and other activities of the employees. What is also critical to note that in many countries, this is unregulated and therefore employers are doing it for the purpose of ensuring employee productivity while at the same time ensure that organizational assets are not misused. It is however, important to note that employers give information to the employees that the internet usage activity will be monitored while they work in official premises. Internet monitoring is also done for the purpose of spouse spying which can also be termed as illegal. Without informing the spouse of monitoring the internet activity, it is considered as unethical and there have been instances where punishment has been meted to those who attempted to spy on the activities of their spouses. Apart from this, national security agencies and governments also engage into the monitoring of internet activities. Many countries including China have put restrictions upon what can be accessed through information and what cannot be viewed. Some countries do it from religious and cultural perspectives whereas national security agencies engage into this activity to monitor the suspects. (SFGate) As such monitoring of internet is a reality which everyone using internet is facing now a days. It is not just limited to the organizations but to the whole spectrum of different organizations as well as institutions which deliberately engage into this. Businesses also use behavioral modeling technologies in order to assess and check the technological footprints of their employees. Employers now have the technologies and capabilities to monitor and intercept electronic communication which takes place through their computers. It is being done in order to ensure that employees work responsibly and that the organization assets are protected. Monitoring of internet has also become important in the wake of the new competitive challenges wherein security and safety of online resources of organizations has become one of the strategic priorities for the firms. Employees working within the organizations are expected to focus their energies on completing their tasks however the use of internet has made it easy for the employees to get distracted from their job. This results into low productivity as well as use of firm’s resources thus prompting many organizations to start to monitor personal emailing as well as browsing activities of their employees. (Wen and Lin,396) The easy access to the information of employees as well as the monitoring of their other activities also raises the question of privacy for the employees. The easy access to this information raises the question of whether the employers can monitor the activities of their employees and what rights and obligations both the employers as well as employees have in this regard. Implications for Businesses With the increasing use of internet both the employer as well as the employees faces strong legal and ethical issues. Balancing the right of employers to have more efficient workplace and the rights of employees towards privacy therefore is a very delicate task to complete. There can be relatively different implications for the businesses as well as the employees including issues of harassment, discrimination as well as loss of privacy. Employers can face new lawsuits for violating the privacy of the employees without actually informing them in advance whereas employees can lose their jobs due to their unacceptable internet activities while on the work. Apart from this, this can increase the overall costs for the firms for installing new hardware and software to monitor such activities, hire additional staff to scrutinize such activities as well as design and develop HR related activities to deal with such employee behavior. Conclusion & Recommendations Internet monitoring has been one of the common issues modern organizations have to deal with. The rise of technology and internet has made it possible to have access to information as well as free and effective communication. As a result of this, employees are also engaged into the use of internet and online communication technologies while on the work. Since employers have the right to keep workplace efficient therefore many firms monitor the activities of their employees in order to ensure that employees are not engaged into less productive acts. Organizations need to be more innovative while dealing with the issue of internet monitoring. Seeking explicit consent from the employees, informing them about organizational practices to monitor internet activity as well as training them in responsible use of internet can overcome above implications. Works Cited Crump, Catherine. Monitoring Internet Usage Patterns Has Privacy Implications Too. 18 June 2012. 07 March 2013 . SFGate. Internet monitoring plan threatens privacy. 4 October 2010. 7 March 2013 . Urbaczewski, Anrew and Leonard M Jessup. "Does Electronic Monitoring of Employee internet usage Work?" Communications of the ACM. 45.183 (2002). Wen, H. Joseph and Binshan Lin. "Internet and employee productivity." Management Decision 36.6 (1998): 395 - 398. Read More