Workplace Surveillance - Research Paper Example

? Outline Introduction The electronic surveillance today is a new dimension ofthreat because technology has facilitated the watching and observation in every aspect of employee’s working lives and supposed private lives. However, a balance must be found between the rights of the employer to manage its business and the rights of the employee, specifically with respect to privacy. Body 1. For employers, the electronic workplace is a double-edged sword. Employees are provided computers and internet access in order to maximize employer objectives, but these resources can bring unprecedented possibilities for employees to use them to the detriment of the employer, co-workers and possibly the public. 2. The legitimate, yet competing, concerns provide compelling reasons for monitoring and surveillance in the workplace. The primary Justification employers advance for implementing surveillance are security, safety, inappropriate personal use and liability issues. 3. The technique utilized by employers indicate the range and potential of electronic work surveillance technologies. Not only can personal or private activity and communication be monitored within the traditional workplace, but the variety of setting in which they operate are equally far reaching. 4. Employers have legitimate business interests in the workplace requiring the exercise of some degree of supervision and control. Employees have legitimate privacy interests requiring at least a minimum level of protection. It surely must be a simple determination of balancing these competing interests. Therefore, it is important that employers should develop and communicate to employees a policy on workplace privacy. Conclusion Information technology has brought wave after wave of challenges, to both employees and employers, which required some kind of balancing of competing rights. Therefore, it is necessary that employers should develop a policy on workplace privacy and communicate it to their employees. It may help to alleviate employee concerns about the relevance of the information sought by an employer, and prevent employees from feeling that they cannot be trusted. Workplace Surveillance Introduction We live in uncertain, challenging and interesting times where technology and privacy are emerging as important themes. New technologies for watching and collecting personal information are constantly appearing. They probe more extensively and intensively than traditional methods. Surveillance technology makes it increasingly possible for organizations to know past histories, current identities, location, communications, conduct as well as physiological and psychological states of individuals. The collection often occurs invisibly and vaguely, being built into routine activities. It is in this context that privacy invasions occur (Hartman 1-5). High tech, low privacy may be an apt description of the 21st century workplace. One of the most visible signs and controversial areas contributing to this description is electronic surveillance. It appears not to matter whether you work in a factory, in an office, as a highly paid professional or as a judge; you are very likely under some observation, with or without your knowledge, in some way by computers or video equipment controlled by your employer (Bynum 21-27). While the nature of surveillance and the extent to which the employer engages in these practices may be alarming, there are compelling reasons for some level of monitoring. What emerges from any discussion about surveillance in today's workplace are the legitimate, yet competing, interests at stake. However, a balance must be found between the rights of the employer to manage its business and the rights of the employee, specifically with respect to privacy. The Electronic Workplace Today, we may be living through a second industrial revolution propelled and shaped by the computer. The increasingly powerful high technology has transported us from the mechanical age of an industrial society to the computer age of an information society. These new technologies are becoming the infrastructure for the 21st century society and all its major institutions (Bynum 33). What has emerged in this age of the smart machine is the electronic workplace in which the employee may have become the transparent worker (Lyon 129). But are employees merely being exposed for activity that is now easier to capture or is the privacy of individuals in the employment context being seriously intruded upon? The late 20th century witnessed dramatic changes in American workplaces driven by globalization and technology. The traditional white-collar workplace has undergone a profound transformation seen in each separate office and workspace being home to a computer connected to the internet. Today, for millions of people who work in the private sector, the on-line environment has become commonplace (Voronovich and Kai 689). The combination of computerized information and communication systems have created a vast presence replacing what was formerly stored in people's heads, face-to-face conversations, in metal file drawers and on widely dispersed pieces of paper. This same technology is used to routinely display, collect, process, analyze and transmit data in a global communications network more rapidly and with less intervention than pen and ink or a mechanical typewriter. The shift has had a fundamental impact on the organization of employment. Corporations are more decentralized. Management functions may be concentrated in major metropolitan centers, while other functions, as for example, call centers, are located regionally. Workers, in the course of their employment, may be in warehouses partitioned by cubicles, at home offices, or even in constant transit with cell phone, laptop and digital personal assistant in hand. The computer and the internet have revolutionized the workplace and the way work is carried out (Hartman 21-26). While creating enormous benefits for organizations, primarily with respect to their bottom lines, implementing new workplace technologies has also made employers more vulnerable. They face increasing challenges to secure their equipment and networks, protect the integrity, confidentiality and availability of the data they maintain and transmit via their computers, provide a safe work environment, increase productivity and minimize the risk of liability arising from illegal and inappropriate computer use by their employees (Voronovich and Kai 690). For employers, the electronic workplace is a double-edged sword. Employees are provided computers and internet access in order to maximize employer objectives, but these resources can bring unprecedented possibilities for employees to use them to the detriment of the employer, co-workers and possibly the public. Employers Concerns Employee’s Personal Use of Workplace Privileges Perhaps the most difficult challenge for employers to combat is the abuse of computer privileges. With virtually unlimited free access to telephone and internet use employees may spend a substantial amount of work time for personal use (Gantt 345). Most notably, this occurs when employees are regularly shopping online or simply surfing the net. Presumably these activities interfere with work, adversely affecting overall job performance. At the very least, any significant time devoted to non-business activities is not in the best interests of the employer. Surfing the net beyond what is incidental to the work may also contribute to internal network congestion. Employees may also be using the computer systems for personal commercial gain at a significant cost to the employer. For example, employees may use the office computer and internet access to operate a web-based enterprise for profit (Bynum 25). Legal Issues A problem with providing workers open access to the internet is the reality that when an employee visits a website, uses electronic mail or participates in on-line chat rooms, newsgroups or electronic bulletin boards, they leave a trail identifying the employer who owns the computer. Areas where employers are increasingly vulnerable and may be subject to liability include pornography being downloaded or transmitted; defamation actions; and copyright infringement (Schneier 26). Pornographic or offensive material may enter the workplace by downloading or simply viewing them on a computer screen. These images can be transmitted to other employees via electronic mail or printed to a central area. Under these circumstances, employers are potentially being exposed to complaints of sexual harassment, claims they may be tolerating racially hostile environments and increased risks of liability for employees engaged in criminal conduct (Weckert 41). The risk of employer liability for inappropriate and illegal use of computer networks at work is compounded by the casual attitude many workers exhibit when using their employer's equipment, as well as the ease of accessing and distributing internet material. Even if an employer escapes liability, employers can be exposed to embarrassing and potentially damaging publicity where the interests and habits of employees are disclosed (Weckert 45) The internet has increased the potential for employees and their organizations to reach a large audience. The result of this increase in audience creates the risk that employers may face unexpected legal claims arising from defamatory material posted on the internet by their employees. There appears to be nothing in the technology that alters the application of the basic defamation law principles . The main difference is that technology permits a hugely increased scope of distribution thereby significantly increasing the potential damages. An employer may be held vicariously responsible, or face potential liability as an internet intermediary (Bynum 61). Given the ease of reproduction of internet content and installation of computer software, the risk of civil penalties for copyright infringement are very real concerns for employers, who may also be held vicariously liable for the wrongful acts of their employees in the course of their employment using company property. An employee may use the employer's computers to download copyright-protected music and share it with others (Weckert 63). Software piracy is a particular area of liability exposure on the internet. Employees are able in many workplaces to download unlicensed software and then wrongfully distribute it or unlawfully modify it. Internet access compounds the problem because downloading music is easy, cheap and increasingly popular among file-swappers. Similarly, the internet has made it possible to access a huge array of copyrighted material and software which is capable of being downloaded from sites worldwide (Lane 73). There is also the risk of damage from viruses and corrupt programs from using counterfeit or copied software (Lane 91). Auditing or tracking personal computers and network machines reduces the risk of loss and liability arising from violations under copyright law. Unfortunately, for every counter measure taken by employers, any employee with the desire, means and skill may be able to circumvent computer systems. The Employer Response: Using monitoring and surveillance technologies In order to secure and protect their workplaces and computer networks employers are increasingly using monitoring and surveillance technologies (Voronovich and Kai 688). Surveillance allows employers, by controlled observation, to ascertain employee performance, behaviour, characteristics and other information. And it can be done with or without the knowledge of the employee. The increasing automation of the workplace has made insidious and effective electronic monitoring of the workforce possible (Lane 3). From video surveillance to voice and e-mail monitoring to biometric identification to human and vehicle tracking, it is not surprising that companies have attracted descriptions like the omniscient organization (Weckert 12). While strategies associated with monitoring and surveillance have been practiced in the past, technological strategies have been implemented and perfected throughout the 1990's and newer, more sophisticated technologies continue to be introduced. Employee Concerns Electronic workplace surveillance effectively began in the early 1980's setting off what may have become the great privacy debate (Lane 23). The controversy continues to escalate, no doubt fuelled by regular media reports concerning the use of high tech privacy-invasive management tools and claims of the ‘death of privacy’, and an ‘assault on privacy’ (Weckert 31). Whether or not these alarming claims are valid, at the very least, as employees' activities are scrutinized with increasing intensity and employers are probing more deeply into all aspects of their workers lives, privacy interests are being seriously challenged. A reasonable expectation of privacy, prior to the sophisticated technology today, was defined in large part by what the unaided senses were capable of detecting and where physical location and other barriers offered greater limits for observation. Technological capabilities utilized by employers are blurring these lines and forcing a re-examination of the expectations that in the past may have been taken for granted, or simply not seen, contested or questioned. For example, distinguishing between on and off-site conduct, personal and employer property, work time and private time is more difficult. These distinctions are less clear in the electronic workplace, giving rise to greater concerns on the part of employees with respect to their privacy as individuals. These privacy concerns relate to loss of personal autonomy, lack of consent, loss of control, monitoring non-work related activities and the potential for abuse by employers of unregulated electronic surveillance technology as it becomes more sophisticated and less expensive (Weckert 36). Interestingly, individuals assume they possess a certain level of privacy and are unconcerned about it until what they view as private is threatened or invaded. Possible Solution Employers have legitimate business interests in the workplace requiring the exercise of some degree of supervision and control. Employees have legitimate privacy interests requiring at least a minimum level of protection. It surely must be a simple determination of balancing these competing interests. In order to avoid these problems employers should develop and communicate to employees a policy on workplace privacy. The goal of the communications effort should be to help employees understand that employers can and will monitor them, and their use of company systems. Henshaw and Youmans (1-5) in their study report that SHRM advises employers to do the following: inform all employees via prior written notice to include the purpose of the monitoring, restrict monitoring to business purposes--the employer might consider providing separate unmonitored lines for personal calls, if they are allowed, and announce monitoring by a beeping tone, or a verbal announcement when monitoring is to begin. Conclusion The devices being used by employers in the workplace range from telephone monitoring to biometric identification to electronic tracking of movements. This surveillance also extends beyond the physical walls of the workplace as employees may carry out their work away from the traditional work site. What is, perhaps, even more significant, is that new technology allows employers to exert even greater control over their employees. However, to adopt, such an austere vision of employers' activities and motives ignores the business interests and legitimate justifications advanced by employers for surveillance within the workplace. Ultimately, a balance must be found between the rights of the employer to manage its business and the rights of the employee, specifically with respect to privacy. Therefore, it is important that employers should develop and communicate to employees a policy on workplace privacy. The goal of the communications effort should be to help employees understand that employers can and will monitor them, and their use of company systems. This might help to alleviate employee concerns about the relevance of the information sought by an employer, and prevent employees from feeling that they cannot be trusted. Work Cited Bynum, T. W. (Ed.). Computer ethics and professional responsibility: Introductory text and readings. London: Blackwell, 2003. David Flaherty, Protecting Privacy in Surveillance Societies Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1989. David Lyon, The Electronic Eye: The Rise of Surveillance Society. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1994. Hartman, L. Technology and ethics: Privacy in the workplace. In K. W. Krasemann, ed. & P. H. Werhane (Eds.), Contemporary issues in business ethics. Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 2006. Henshaw, G, & Youmans, K. C. “Employee privacy in the workplace and an employee’s right to conduct workplace searches and surveillance.” SHRM Legal Report, Spring: 1-5. Lane, F. S. The naked employee: How technology is compromising workplace privacy. New York: Amacom, 2003. Larry O. Natt Gantt, "An Affront to Human Dignity: Electronic Mail Monitoring in the Private Sector Workplace" (1995) Harvard Journal of Law & Tech. 345. Schneier, B. Secrets and lies: Digital security in a networked world. New York: Wiley, 2004. Voronovich, Zoya A., and Kai R. Larsen. "Employee Monitoring and Surveillance." Encyclopedia of Business Ethics and Society. Ed. . Thousand Oaks, CA, 2007. Weckert, J. (Ed.). Electronic monitoring in the workplace: Controversies and solutions. Hershey, PA: Idea Group, 2004. Read More