Workplace Email Surveillance : Employee Privacy (Page 4 of 5)

Nearly 80% of all US companies keep a track of what their employees do by checking their e-mail, Internet activities, telephone connections and videotaping. This as compared to 1997, when it was 35% has been a huge rise. A survey by AMA has concluded that 24% of organizations have had employee e-mail subpoenaed and around 15% have gone to court to battle a lawsuit brought in by an employee e-mail. With such alarming sand rising statistics, it is interesting to know the rationale behind the investment of such technologies. Five reasons have been outlined below:

Ensuring confidentiality and trade secrets is a very important aspect of e-mail monitoring. A study by the ASIS and PWC claimed that Fortune 1000 companies sustained losses of more than $45 billion in 1999 from proprietary information theft.[1] An example could be of a publicly traded company where the employer has to ensure that trade secrets and proprietary information are not leaked by employees for their benefit. Thus, sometimes e-mail may be monitored as a necessity and not only a right.

With the rise of hacking crimes and various terrorist attacks, e-mail monitoring is used by employers to uncover crimes and probable attacks. As Sinrod notes, “after Sept. 11, employers more than ever want to make sure that employees are not engaging in any type of criminal activity in the workplace and thus are engaging in various surveillance means.”

Employers often monitor employee e-mails to discourage them from wasting time on personal matters during office hours. A paper by Sinrod in 2001 concludes that over 75% of companies said that monitoring had helped them fight this.[2] A counter effect on productivity would be failing of trust. Employees may feel that they are not trusted by their employers when such mediums of surveillances are used. Evidence also suggests that monitored employees have more chances of suffering stress, ill health and morale problems as compared to those who are not monitored.[3] This may lead to loss of confidence and overall productivity loss. To avoid this, employers should inform the employees on the level of intrudation so that no expectation of privacy is held.