Workplace Surveillance

If you are reading this article at work there is a very good chance that you are being monitored through electronic surveillance. A recent survey showed that around two-thirds of major U.S. companies monitor their employees through some sort of electronic surveillance, ranging from keystroke counters to hidden cameras.

Roughly one-third of companies monitor their employees by taping telephone call or voicemail, intercepting computer files and electronic mail, and videotaping employees at their job. The most common form of surveillance involves monitoring the telephone numbers and duration of calls made by employees. A positive note to this aspect of your work life is that most companies inform their employees of their monitoring policies.

More and more software companies are offering sophisticated tools that enable employers to keep a close tab on the people that they employ. This software enables your boss to know how often you visit a non-work-related web site, how many times you pass on that chain letter through your electronic mail, how many times you play a game of solitaire, how many files you have deleted from your computer, and even how many words you are typing per minute. There is even a computer system available to track how many times hospital and restaurant employees wash their hands during a shift.

The creators of this type of software claim that they are helping to reduce workplace fraud by saving companies money that they would have spent paying lazy workers to surf the Web. Several companies have purchases this software, including the Federal Bureau of Investigations, and it is perfectly legal. Although experts claim that employees do not have the same rights in the workplace as they do at home, they stress that this practice of watching workers could backfire. Employees will feel less trusted and less enthusiastic about their jobs, and this could hurt companies in the long run. "At some point, surveillance becomes counterproductive," says Robert Gellman, a privacy consultant in Washington.

Some experts have indicated that the best practice is for all employers making use of this privacy-invasive technology to inform their employees that they will be doing so. By informing their employees at the time of hire, it will be considered a normal condition of employment. Although this is not the best policy, it will reduce the shock factor when an employee finds a hidden camera in the restroom.