The Red 5 Staff Login System, Computer-Based Monitoring and Data Security - Case Study Example

Research The project involves creating a staff log in system that can be used by the staff of RED 5 to do various tasks We are building an online system where staff in RED5 Company has a user friendly system to login and view their employment details, timetable, add their feedback, read feedback, apply for holidays and have their own email account within the company. Whereas manager can login and update/change timetable, add staff to the system, delete staff, read feedback, delete feedback, confirm holiday requests and manager also have an email account. Research on the various issues arising from creating and implementing the Red 5 staff login system has been conducted on the internet and in libraries where there are several journals, books and publications. The first step in conducting the research would be to look at examples of such a system that may exist in other companies. A good example can be found in a company like IBM which has an application where employees can login, send and receive messages and generally interact with one another. Since IBM is a large company with offices in different locations and a large number of employees there was a need to connect all the employees and make the company seem smaller. Another need that led to the creation of the system was that the company employs quite a number of young employees and there was a need to foster communication and team spirit despite the age. An online system would appeal to these young employees. But with the creation of the system came other benefits such as professional development, cost cutting and good time management. Another example of a login staff system is one implemented by the Deloitte. For their system employees could include photographs, their contact information, their work journals, experience among others. It’s a user friendly system that not only connects the employees on a professional level but also on a social level. There are some issues that arise with the creation of such a system. There are legal issues where there is the users privacy to consider. Some questions to ask may include: Does the system provide security for the data supplied by employees? Does the company comply with the principles of the data protection act? Does the system infringe on copyright? There are some of the legal factors to take into consideration when creating the system. Another issue that may arise is social issues. Does the system foster team works and cohesion in the company? Will it affect company productivity positively or negatively if employees can interact and socialize with each other? There are also ethical issues where the rights of the company and the rights of the individual may be in conflict. There are restrictions set on the kind of information users can access and send so the question to ask is: does that infringe of the privacy of the employees since the data will be monitored? Another ethical issue that will be discussed is in the case of piracy. Are employees allowed to copy software for personal use? Is it ethical? Lastly there are professional issues to look at where by the professional benefits of the Red 5 staff login system is discussed. The question to ask is how will the system enhance productivity within the company? Will sharing of information be easier? Legal issues Since the login system will require users to provide personal data, such as name, address etc, there are some legal implications that arise particularly in regards to data protection. The data protection act which provides rules on what data can be recorded electronically, under what circumstances, and how it can be used. Organizations that store data relating to individuals must be registered and appoint a Data Protection Officer. “Individuals must be aware of, and consent to, the fact the data is held about them, and they may see it if they wish. Data must be accurate, only held if required for the purposes of the database and kept for no longer than necessary (University of Cambridge, 2004d).”The data protection act will guide in coming up with a privacy policy for the website. Other principles to be followed when collecting and storing data include: “Data should be: Fairly and lawfully processed Processed for a limited purpose Adequate, relevant and not excessive Accurate and up to date Kept no longer than necessary Processed in accordance with the data subject’s rights Secure Not transferred to countries that do not provide adequate protection of the data.” (UK Department for Constitutional Affairs 2006) There are security risks to consider where the collected data must be kept secure. Security risks involve identity theft, disclosure of personal information to outside sources among others. The data protection act requires organizations to implement data security measures to prevent unauthorized or unlawful processing and accidental loss or damage to data pertaining to living individuals(Calder and Watkins,1999)Therefore when creating the online login system, data protection measures should be taken. There should also be a firewall which acts as a gatekeeper that will keep unauthorized users away. Another legal issue to consider is copyright. This regards the right of the organization to use the online system. Since the system will be someone’s creation i.e intellectual property, there are laws that protect the rights of the person who creates it. The law does not constantly offer strategy to rights and responsibilities, a familiarity with basic existing main beliefs should keep most network users on ethical grounds. The role of copyright is to provide protection to original work. This includes literacy material, music, pictures among others. Computer software which may seem to be ideas, procedures, systems, or devices, may be registered as "literary works" under the law, and therefore receive copyright protection as long as it is a product on one’s own mind.(Strong, 1999) .The law forbids unauthorized reproduction, distribution, performance, or display of works with copyrights. An example of copyright violation is a situation whereby a person downloads software from the internet and uses it nad distributes it without the permission of the author or without purchasing a license. One does not have to publish their work in order for it to become copyright. It applies to both published and unpublished works. It becomes effective the moment the piece of work is created. In order to gain copyright protection, the owner must provide a copyright notice. Without this notice, the author cannot claim that copyright has been invalidated. The laws of copyright vary from country to country. Once a piece of work is declared under copyright, it is usually protected for the lifetime of the author plus 50 years. A good example is Shakespeare whose work is currently not under copyright since he died more than 50 years ago. Therefore the creator of the staff login system can copyright the system and specify conditions which the software can be distributed. He/she can provide a license for a user in order to avoid piracy of the product. Social issues In current society, people can make friends, share ideas, form groups, play games and many other things via a network. This type of network formed is known as a social network. The Red 5 staff login system can be said to be a social network since users can exchange ideas online. Instead of employees meeting at company events or in meeting, they can foster friendships without this face to face contact. The benefit of this is that people can freely express themselves despite their gender, class, race or physical appearance thus little or no preconceived judgments. In order for the Red 5 login system to be beneficial to the company by increasing the employee’s team efforts, work yield and contribute towards attaining the business’ goals it needs to be well designed and easy to understand. Other than being some form of social network the staff login system can also be said to be on an intranet. This can lead to a great reduction in expenses incurred by printing out letters, memos, and documents among others. Since the system will allow employees to send and receive messages, all the documents can be sent directly to the employees account. It also makes it easier to share and update information in various aspects. For the human resources department, it will be much easier to schedule leave days for employees and keep track of how many leave days an employee has taken within a period of time. For the employees they will be able to access updated information easily therefore increasing their productivity. For example if an employee needed information from another employee in a different branch of the Red 5 company, the request can be made and the information sent within the shortest time possible. This is because the system will allow employees to interact and socialize which builds a virtual community despite their department or location. Ethical issues When looking at the ethical issues we can start by looking at what ethic entails. It entails the choices made by people in regards to the societal standards of accepted behavior and rules set by people from a certain profession. In the IT profession, ethical issues relevant to the login system would include things such as misuse of staff data, user privacy and control of and access to user information. This is relevant to the staff login system because it will contain a database with the employee’s personal data. With a company like Red 5 users have access to software that they may install in their workstation. Some users may make copies of this software to use at home. For example employees may make copies of Microsoft Office to use on their computers at home. This is an ethical issue because piracy is wrong although some people have no objections to piracy. Quite a number of people have no problem downloading music, videos or even software for free. It is viewed as an acceptable practice. Even when it comes to creating the staff log in system, one should ensure that it is not a pirated copy. Appropriate ethical action with information technologies is twofold. First, information technologies have capabilities that allow Information Technology users to act in ways that affect others, sometimes unintentionally, by storing, accessing, and using information about them, or by developing applications that may be harmful to them (Culnan, 1993; Laudon, 1993; Loch, Carr and Warkentin, 1992).Other ethical issues will affect information privacy and use of company resources for personal use. According to Lock et al (1998) a research was carried on a group of people to get their views on the use of computers in a business situation and the ethical dilemmas associated with it. There are company rights which may sometimes conflict with individual rights. Company policy dictates that phone conversations, e-mail, word processing documents and software use relate only to business. A computer within the company is used to randomly monitor whether employees follow the policy. The company owns the resources and, therefore, has a right to specify how they are used (George, 1994). Hence, having such a policy is ethical. For company policies to be effective they need to be monitored. Since the resources used by employees within Red 5 Company are owned by Red 5, it is entitled to take any measures to ensure that policies are adhered to. There is a great increase of audits carried out on the legality of software. The fines to be paid should the software be illegal can be quite substantial. Therefore to reduce the risk of paying the fines, monitoring seems like the right thing to do. On the other hand, the company cannot completely dictate on how the employees work. Employees need some form of privacy which will foster good working relationships in the workplace. If the employees cannot interact with one another, then they may not be excited to work in such a company which in turn will reflect on the outcome. Other ethical issues may arise due to exchange of personal data within the system. Since employees will be able to exchange information, there may be a situation that could to defamation of an employee’s reputation. For example if an one employee has a falling out with another employee, it may lead to the employee posting derogative remarks for all to see, Thus the need to monitor and filter the content that the users share and exchange. Professional Issues Professional issues can be tied to social issues in that by communicating with colleagues in the work place, the employees of Red 5 Company will be able to discuss work related issues, share attachments or information related to their profession among others. In an article in the Wall street journal, Vasellaro writes on the professional benefits of social networks and gives an example of a group of physicians who were able to discuss a certain medical case via a sermo.com. One physician had a patient whose eye was protruding from its socket. He decided to ask other physicians for their views on the patient’s case. Quite a number of doctors offered suggestions where the thought that the patient had a fungal infection, a sinus problem associated with drug abuse among others. With the help of these other doctors the physician was finally able to come up with a diagnosis. The patient had cancer. The case discussion did not take place in an office or at a meeting; it was done on a social network that doctors often visit. Through this network doctors are able to discuss professional issues with other doctors who specialize in a variety of fields. Since it has been established that the staff login system will not only enable staff to check their details but also communicate with each other it is very beneficial in the professional perspective. Millions of professionals already turn to broad-based networking sites like LinkedIn to swap job details and contact information, often for recruiting purposes. Business executives also have turned to online forums, email lists and message boards to sound off on information related to their industries. Conclusion In conclusion the Red 5 staff login system will be a great benefit to the organization. It will help on reducing costs; improve of company productivity with many other benefits. The various issues discussed will assist in coming up with the privacy policy of the system, provide a platform for employees to socialize and further enhance their professional lives. References Cisler, S. (1993), Protection and the internet, Apple Library, http://www.colorado.edu/geography/gcraft/notes/ethics/html/internet.protection.html, Accessed on 16th April 2012 Calder A, Watkins S (2003), It Governance: A Manager's Guide to Data Security & BS 7799/ISO 1779. Kogan page limited, UK George, J. E (1994), Computer-Based Monitoring: Common Perceptions and Empirical Results', working paper, College of Business, Florida State University. Lockhart, A. (2004), Network Security Hacks, O’Reilly Media, Sebastopol. Lock, Karen D, Conger S, Oz, Effy(1998), Ownership, privacy and monitoring in the workplace: A debate on technology and ethics, Springer Science & Business Media. Loch, K. D., S. Conger and B. Helft: (1994), An Exploration of Ethics and Information Technology Use: Issues, Perspectives, Consensus and Consistency, (Under review). Loch, K. D., H. H. Carr and M. E. Warkentin (1992), Threats to Information Systems: Today's Reality, Yesterday's Understanding, MIS Quarterly 16(2), 173-186. Lynch, M. (2000), Ethical Issues in Electronic Information Systems, http://www.colorado.edu/geography/gcraft/notes/ethics/ethics_f.html, Accessed on 16th April 2012 Oz., E. (1994), Ethics for the Information age (Wm. C. Brown Communications, Inc., Dubuque, IA). Parker, D. B.: 1988, `Ethics for Information Systems Personnel', Journal of Information Systems Management 5(3), 44-48. Strong. S (1999), The Copyright Book: A Practical Guide, MIT, USA. Vascellaro, J(2007), Social Networking Goes Professional; Doctors, Salesmen, Executives Turn to New Sites to Consult, Commiserate With Peers; Weeding Out Impostors, Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones & Company Inc,New York, N.Y. Read More