Privacy legislation and surveillance software

Surveillance Software

Privacy Legislation and Surveillance Software

Technology is changing constantly and is applied to many different areas of our work and home lives. We enjoy the benefits of using technology at home in our personal lives because there is no one to monitor the e-mails that we send or the Websites that we browse. However, we should be aware that we may not have the freedom to do these things in the workplace like we think we may have. Workplace privacy has become increasingly discussed and the monitoring of e-mail as well as video surveillance in some cases is used frequently because technology has now made it easier for practically every step we make to be monitored. Many workers feel that workplace monitoring is an invasion of their privacy. The increase workplace monitoring of employees sometimes causes stress, lowers morale and decreases job satisfaction.

Many employers feel that it is their right to know what each and every employee is doing on company time. There should be a balance between what is monitored by the company so that workers can feel that they have some measure of privacy.

Companies have a right to protect themselves from any legal action that could arise from a situation where an employee is blogging or posting information about the company on social networking sites. This could result in a misunderstanding that the employee is representing the company when in fact he is only posting his opinions. In such a case as this, the employee could run into trouble even if the postings came from his own personal computer. However, he is most certain to cause problems for himself if he performs such activities on company time and on the company's computer. We live in an age where privacy is waning and just about any type of information can be discovered on anyone. As such, it is best that personal e-mails and web browsing be relegated to the employees own computer and not the company's. Also, employees should be mindful of what they post on social networking sites, even if done from their home computer.