Workplace Emonitoring

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Workplace E-monitoring

• Bobby McAuley and Rob Driscoll
• June 12, 2007
• Comp 380

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What is Workplace E-monitoring?

• Different types of software
• Deployed over a network and allows for
  centralized viewing.
• 75 of businesses admit using it in some form.

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What types of workplace E-monitoring exist ?

• Keystroke Monitoring - Log all keystrokes along
  with the window name they are typed.
• Emails Sent and Received logging
• Events Timeline Logging - Log all events
  employees performed and view them in an organized
  listing.
• Website Activity - Log all websites visited by
  the popular browsers.
• Application Usage - Monitor and log all
  applications ran.
• Documents Opened - Record documents and files
  opened and viewed.

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Also..

• -Screenshots can be taken,
• -History can be viewed,
• -and websites can be blocked.

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• -Has anyone experienced any of these types of
  monitoring first hand ?
• (We actually know for a fact that most of you
  have including Russ, and anyone who plays a sport
  for the University.)

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The Controversy

• Rob Pro-Workplace e-monitoring
• Bobby Anti-Workplace e-monitoring
• 1st amendment rights to privacy versus employers
  right to know.

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Pros of Workplace Monitoring
-The equipment used at work is the employers
property therefore he has the right to do what he
wants. -Monitoring employees increases
productivity. -Employees can become very non
productive if they are not monitored.
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Intro to workplace monitoring

• The study of human-resources professionals at 722
  companies, found 74 percent saying they monitor
  workers' Internet use at work72 percent said
  they check on employees' e-mail 51 percent said
  they review phone calls.

"Legally, they're not required to tell you if
they're monitoring the e-mail," says Shari Steele
of the Electronic Frontier Foundation. "Legally
the equipment that you're using when at work
belongs to your employer. And therefore the
employer can do anything they want to with the
equipment."
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Reasons for Workplace Monitoring

• Top 5 reasons to monitor employees
• Computer and their Internet connections is
  company property.
• Increase your employee productivity.
• Morale among employees is low when they are not
  doing their job.

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• Stop trade secrets and confidential matters from
  leaving your company.
• Protect your company from sexual harassment
  defamation and/or illegal activity lawsuits.

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Benefits

• It is estimated that every employee spends
  roughly 75 minutes of every day being
  nonproductive (according to a recent Gallup poll)
  through the activities mentioned above. Using the
  U.S. average salary of 20 per hour this results
  in an annual loss of 6,250 per employee. 
• Increases Productivity (see table)

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• Generally courts have ruled in favor of the
  employer in a vast majority of cases regarding
  workplace privacy.
• Maintain employee discipline
• More efficient workplace

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Statistics of Guilty Employees

• 92 of online stock trading occurs from the
  workplace during work hours
• 70 of all web traffic to internet porn sites
  occur during work hours
• 37 of employees say they surf the web constantly
  at work
• 30 of employees watch sports online during while
  at work
• 24 of American workers admit to shopping online
  while at work

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Why continue to monitor employees?

• Protects against hostile work environment
• Protects against damage to company reputation
• As long as workplace monitoring is legal, why
  wouldnt every company want to know everything
  going on in their organization?

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Could this be a form of monitoring employees ?

• The possible future of workplace monitoring.

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Anti-Work place E-monitoring

• -The software that exists now is too invasive and
  this approach is a threat to workers right to
  privacy.
• -Laws should be made to protect the right to
  privacy of workers or employers should adopt a
  policy that wouldnt be as controlling.
• -Monitoring techniques are not always a good
  indicator of overall performance.

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Software is too invasive

• Examples
• Hidden Camera 2.17
• 007 Spy Software, Remote Spy, and Net Vizor.
• Spector One

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Nowhere to hide

• Can become more like spying
• Some could be discriminated against
• Bosses could overuse software and abuse their
  power

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Justifiable or Invasion of Privacy?

• A few years ago, postal workers in New York City
  were horrified to discover that management had
  installed video cameras in the restroom stalls.
• Female workers at a large Northeastern department
  store discovered a hidden video camera installed
  in an empty office space that was commonly used
  as a changing room.
• Waiters in a large Boston hotel were secretly
  videotaped dressing and undressing in their
  locker room.

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• Continued
• Employers were worried about theft but the only
  thing that was robbed was the personal privacy of
  the workers.
• Are we giving Employers too much power ?

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Intimate Information

• Financial status and medical histories can be
  viewed but laws prevent the employer from sharing
  that information with people outside the company.
  
• What about Outside of the company

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What should be done?

• A.C.L.U. (American Civil Liberties Union) is
  constantly pushing for laws to protect right to
  privacy at work.
• A.C.L.U. believes employers should at least adopt
  a policy like this one..
• notice to employees of the company's electronic
  monitoring practices 
• use of a signal to let an employee know when he
  or she is being monitored 
• employee access to all personal electronic data
  collected through monitoring 
• no monitoring of areas designed for the health or
  comfort of employees 
• the right to dispute and delete inaccurate data 
  
• a ban on the collection of data unrelated to work
  performance. 
• restrictions on the disclosure of personal data
  to others without the employee's consent.

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Monitoring isnt always a good indicator

• Many workers have short attention spans
• Setting breaks and resting points can keep
  workers motivated
• Workers helping others, can be misdiagnosed as
  being lazy

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• Quick Video Clip of how people feel about e-mail
  monitoring.
• E-Mail Privacy - Feature Story

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Questions and or Comments?

• - Discussion Time.