Use and Abuse of Computers

Did you know that 58% of employers have fired workers for Internet and email misuse? And 48% justify employee video monitoring as an effort to “counter theft and violence?” According to the “2007 Electronic Monitoring & Surveillance Survey” of which 304 U.S. companies participated in, computer-monitoring results have led to the highest cause of employee termination. These companies used several tactics to eavesdrop on employees while claiming to be managing productivity or for security purposes. Some argue that surveillance is absolutely necessary to help protect and grow a business; others argue that employee and customer rights come first. However, companies that use such tactics often violate the privacy of individuals, exploit their private information and even punish those that do not conform to their standards.

When that technology is used to view, collect or disseminate inappropriate content, again employers have cause for concern. Use of workplace computers to access and distribute pornography, for example, frequently results in discipline and workplace harassment complaints. In some cases it can even result in serious criminal investigations.

1. Use of on premise security cameras to spy on the activities of fellow employees

One of the most significant concern facing IT industry in the 21st century is legal, social, ethical and professional issues that are associated with appropriate uses of technologies in computing. During the implantation of the Greenwich Freecycling website, many of these issues were encountered. By deploying the correct combination of technologies that is available when implementing the website some of these issues were conquered and overcome.

This section of the employee handbook is provided as a guideline for employees to understand the company policy and procedures regarding privacy in the workplace. While this section cannot address every possible scenario that may occur, the general policy will serve as a basis of understanding the key workplace issues and employee privacy. This section addresses privacy issues related to personal background information, off-work activities, and the corporate policy on the use of electronic monitoring. These privacy policies are designed to both provide a clear guideline for employees on the difference between job related and personal privacy. The policies are designed to create a standard set of

The most common form of an invasion, to employee privacy rights is email. With the massive use of computers, email has become the biggest communication tool of choice in the workplace. The concern of employers has grown tremendously with the use of email in the workplace. Employers' concern is that, employees can waste time by sending and receiving email for personal use, and they may provide easy access for hackers to entry their computer system. Employers can monitor an employee computer activity to ensure productivity in the workplace. Privacy Rights Clearinghouse (2006) states, "Unfortunately, if an employee uses a company computer for email use, the employee employer has the right to review the contents of his or her email."

Privacy Rights Clearinghouse went over computer and workstation monitoring, email monitoring, telephone monitoring, mobile device monitoring, audio and video monitoring, GPS tracking, postal mail and social media monitoring. Employers are able to see what is on your screen, how much time you spend away from your computer and how many keystrokes per hour each employer does. Employers are able to discretely monitor employees with certain computer equipment. Employees may not know they are being monitored. Employers can review email content. Even though the message may have an option for marking an email as private, the company may still have access to the email. You should assume that your work emails are not private. Even though you may delete your emails, the company still has access to them also.

Kennedy was concerned with the rapid changes in the dynamics of communication and information transmission as evident not just in the technology itself but in what society accepts as proper behavior. Many employers expect or at least tolerate personal use of such equipment by employees because it often increases worker efficiency. At present, it is uncertain how workplace norms, and the law's treatment of them, will evolve.

I. Employees have complete expectation of privacy since they can select their password for in-house and remote access of e-mails. II. A subpoena is required by the employer to read any e-mail that is clearly marked “confidential” by the employee. III. No expectation of privacy exists over an employer-owned computer system at work. IV. Statement by the employer that e-mails are confidential and privileged cannot be later used by an employer to defeat an employee’s claim of privacy

The impact of computer technology in the workplace has been enormous within the past decade, both positive and negative. Distant communication through the use of computers and mobile devices have overhauled the office setting completely. Email, social networking sites and the world of the Internet have opened a whole new avenue of communication. Technology has changed the entire workplace environment, the relationships, and how things get done.

The first questions to ask when it comes to e-mail and websites at work is, “Am I being watched?” The answer is most likely yes. Employers have begun to watch their employee’s activities with greater detail over the years. In 2001, CNN.com posted an article titled, Is your PC watching you? Find out!, which looked into this further. In this article “A study by the Privacy Foundation claims employers are monitoring the Internet and e-mail use of 14 million employees. (Articles.CNN, 2001)” While it can be assumed that number has grown over the last decade, it can also be said with certainty that measures have been put in place to ensure information transmitted via business internet connections have increased. The U.S. government, for example, has set up content filters and points of encryption to safeguard against system penetrations and intrusions. Although these measures are not practical for home use, limiting the information you supply to through the internet will help. One topic of contention that does not seem to have a resolution, however, is the subject of electronic medical records.

It is no secret that technology has changed the way that many things are done in our culture today. The legal world is no exception. When lawyers work on cases, there is usually a lot of reading involved. This takes a lot of time and a team of lawyers that is expensive to employ. Electronic Discovery (e-discovery) is technology that has cut down on this time and cost, and has significantly changed the legal world. It is software that can analyze documents and extract key words or phrases. In a case concerning CBS, lawyers and paralegals examined 6 million documents at a cost of $2.2 million. With the use of e-discovery, one company was able to examine 1.5 million documents for $100,000. E-discovery can help lawyers pick out words, phrases and it can even detect patterns in behaviors. This software is essential for the legal world because it could prove guiltiness through uncovering hidden activity of criminals who may otherwise not have been caught.

The issue of employers’ and employees’ rights has always brought controversy in most companies. Some rights are expressly known like the right of employees to get paid after working for the agreed period of time among others. However, there are those things done by the employers that most employees feel are too private. Employees feel that some things done by the employers are an intrusion to their privacy. This paper will discuss issues on whether the employer has a right to review the employees’ email. It will look at both the employers and the employees’ perspective and what the law says about the issue.

Some of the most important procedures used in collection of information to be used in a court of law include collecting live data from the RAMs images. Such live recovery of information can be collected from the F-Response which can collect data from the networks of a computer. Information can be collected when the computer is logged on or connected to the network or when the computer is executing (Carrier, 2006, p. 56). The other procedure that can be used in the collection of information for forensic purposes is the encryption of hard disks. Encryption of the hard disk creates logical images that can be collected using the F-Response (Eoghan & Gerasimos, 2008, p. 95). The other important procedure for collection of information is making sure that all data storage devices are kept away from magnets and any other devices that might destroy data stored in them. It is important that the handling individuals obtain the information collection manuals that help them collect information effectively (Eoghan & Gerasimos, 2008, p. 94).

Employers believe employees are taking advantage of the Internet while at work to access inappropriate websites such as shopping, gambling, pornographic material, and illegal downloading. Therefore, employers are searching for ways to reduce Internet exploring and increase work production, and remain within the state and federal guidelines (Young, 2011). To combat these issues, monitoring technologies are put in place to make employees more productive during company’s work hours. Monitoring technologies are classified as the use of computerized system that automatically collect, store, analyze, and report information about how an employee is performing his/her job (Wen, Schwieger & Gershuny, 2007). This helps companies to track their employee’s Internet movements, obtain detailed information (Wen, Schwieger & Gershuny, 2007), and protect the privacy of their company. In return, employers hope this will limit or eliminate employees from extensive use of the Internet.