Workplace Surveillance Reduces Liability, Raises Ethical Concerns (10/2)

Workplace Surveillance Reduces Liability, Raises Ethical Concerns

Workplace surveillance is replacing workplace privacy as businesses of all sizes begin to consider monitoring employee communications. Monitoring services are an increasingly popular method of reducing employee liability, as well as screening performance and productivity. However, many workers are challenging such security measures as an invasion of their personal rights. A recent poll conducted by the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) suggests 83 percent of Americans are "very concerned about their privacy."

We live in a society that is increasingly lacking in personal privacy, individual trust and a viable public life that supports and maintains democratic values and practices, says William Staples, a University of Kansas professor of sociology and author of "The Culture of Surveillance - Discipline and Social Control in the United States." "The monitoring and invasion of our privacy by others is becoming increasingly taken for granted. In fact, people exhibit a strange, almost voyeuristic intrigue about the technology, right down to their own video cameras."

Experts warn that businesses should still take precautions before monitoring an employee's communications in the workplace. According to the Electronic Communication Privacy Act (ECPA), employees who have had communications wrongfully intercepted are afforded the right to challenge the system's operator for invading their right to privacy.

"To protect themselves from liability and to ensure their computer resources are used only for authorized purposes, employers must have the right to monitor employee files and e-mail," insists attorney Michael R. Overly, an Internet law specialist with Foley & Lardner.

"In order to avoid potential invasion of privacy claims, monitoring must be done properly," says Patricia Butler, an attorney with Ford & Harrison LLP. "Courts have also held that when employees are warned that their e-mail and other electronic communications are subject to monitoring and have signed a statement agreeing to restrict their use of company-owned hardware and software to company business, an employee has no legitimate expectation of privacy and consequently cannot make a claim for invasion of privacy under state law," she explains.

Monitoring has been successful for many years in customer service call centers, says Michael Tamer, president and CEO of Teknekron Infoswitch Corp., a leading provider of monitoring technology. Tamer has been active in Congress concerning employee monitoring since the technology emerged in the early '90s. "I have seen monitoring programs change the way companies do business by strengthening relationships in the call center. It brings management closer to customers because they hear what the customer experiences," he says.

Phil Trubey, founder and president of the San Diego-based NetPartners Internet Solutions, has created WebSENSE, an advanced Internet-filtering software used by the majority of schools and libraries across the nation. By giving employers the ability to track and log which Web sites their employees visit, WebSENSE allows management to block sites that distract employees from work, and protect their company from sexual harassment claims directly related to inappropriate Internet use.

For more information on privacy in the workplace, or how to legally and ethically monitor employee communications, visit the Privacy Rights Clearing House, the American Civil Liberties Union or The Communications Workers of America.