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This document discusses the rise of workplace surveillance through various technologies. It notes that companies now routinely collect and store vast amounts of employee data, including financial transactions, phone calls, vehicle movements, and email communications. A survey found that two-thirds of large companies admit to electronically monitoring employees, and over half use video surveillance. While employers claim this increases security and productivity, employees argue it invades their privacy and could be used to unfairly discipline workers. As technology advances, employees express concern about being constantly tracked both inside and outside the office.

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Trung Dũng Nguyễn
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58 views

Homework

This document discusses the rise of workplace surveillance through various technologies. It notes that companies now routinely collect and store vast amounts of employee data, including financial transactions, phone calls, vehicle movements, and email communications. A survey found that two-thirds of large companies admit to electronically monitoring employees, and over half use video surveillance. While employers claim this increases security and productivity, employees argue it invades their privacy and could be used to unfairly discipline workers. As technology advances, employees express concern about being constantly tracked both inside and outside the office.

Uploaded by

Trung Dũng Nguyễn
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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A

We are living in a world where data, or

information, has become a powerful commodity.

Massive advances in computer technology are having a

two-pronged effect. They are not only making it possible

to collect information that at one time went largely

unrecorded, but they are also making it relatively easy to

store, analyse, and retrieve information in ways which,

until quite recently, were impossible. It is perhaps not

surprising that computer technology is being used in

government intelligence agencies to monitor people and

practices. However, what is less obvious is the rapid rise

in the use of surveillance in companies.

The amount of information already being

collected as a matter of routine would surprise

most people. For example, any spending that involves

a credit or bank debit card, in fact, most financial

transactions, is automatically recorded on computer

databases. A telephone call to any government agency will

most likely be monitored. Mobile phone companies have

equipment that allows them to track the location of anyone

who has a phone switched on. Supermarkets, through

their checkout processes, electronically record every item

being bought by their customers. Electronic tollbooths

and traffic-monitoring systems record the movement of

individual vehicles. Closed-circuit television cameras now

scan most city centres. The increasing widespread use of

surveillance technologies and techniques has led to fears


that soon there will be no personal privacy to protect. These large organisations and companies,

however, are not only monitoring their

customers, they are just as interested in their employees.

A 1997 survey by the American Management Association

(AMA) of 900 large companies found that nearly two

thirds admitted to some form of electronic surveillance

of their workers. Another AMA survey of 526 companies

in 2005 found that more than half of the companies

surveyed used video surveillance. 86% of the companies

surveyed notified their employees of the practice with

80% notifying the employees of when they are actually

being watched. The study found that the number

of companies using video surveillance to monitor

employees' on-the-job performance is increasing.

To employers, video surveillance is a means to

expose misconduct, theft, vandalism, violence,

and even sabotage. It is a way to reduce security risks

and legal liability. It is also a cheaper alternative to other

forms of security and supervision. However, employees

claim video surveillance has the potential to dehumanise

their working environment, denying them a reasonable

expectation of privacy. They also believe it harasses

individuals by putting them under constant view.

Another common form of workplace surveillance

is to monitor e-mail messages sent or received

by employees. According to the AMA study, the largest


increase in workplace surveillance was in the storage

and review of e-mail messages. Businesses argue that by

monitoring e-mails, they will be able to catch employees

who send offensive or abusive e-mail messages. Another

assertion commonly used by companies to support the

use of e-mail surveillance is that it stops employees

from sending confidential files to rival firms. However, this

argument does not mean it can stop company secrets

from leaking out by other means such as printing,

photocopying, photographing, or by fax.

Powerful new software makes it easy for bosses

to monitor and record not only all e-mail

messages, but ery keystroke and telephone conversation

as well as the exact whereabouts of employees. Tracking

devices through mobile phones and on company vehicles

can monitor employees' movements outside of the office,

while the use of access cards and 'active badges' monitor

individual's movements inside the office. According to

employers, vehicle tracking is used to increase efficiency,

to enhance customer service, for security, and to comply

with safety requirements. However, employees complain

they do not want their employers to secretly track their

movements. Others resent employers tracking their every

movement throughout the day, including during break

times. They also fear that tracking devices will be used to

unfairly discipline drivers.

The modern workplace is undergoing great


changes caused primarily by the information

processing ability of high-powered computers and

advanced software. Companies compete against each

other, and there is intense competition in the marketplace.

Anything which might improve a firm's efficiency and

productivity could mean the difference between success

and failure. However, the fact remains, if particular

systems can be used to monitor a computer or an

individual's movements without the knowledge of the

computer user or the person concerned, then it is very

likely that such systems will be used for purposes other

than their intended purpose.

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