@
Research Task 1:
Privacy in the Workplace
Privacy, according Justice Louis Brandeis in Olmstead
v. U.S. (1928) is "cthe right to be let alone-the most comprehensive of
rights and the right most valued by civilized men, and the right most valued by
a free people." Roger Clarke (1997, 1999) says that "Privacy is the interest
that individuals have in sustaining a 'personal space', free from interference
by other people and organisations."
The Privacy Rights Clearinghouse (1993, 2002) state that
new technologies make it possible for employers to monitor many aspects of their
employees' jobs, especially on telephones, computer terminals, through
electronic and voice mail, and when employees are using the Internet. They go
on to explain that this monitoring is usually legal and is only controlled by
the individual businesses or organisations.
Employers can use software to see what is on the screen or
stored in the employees' computers. They can monitor web-surfing and e-mail.
It is also possible for employers to monitor the actual keystrokes made by
employees or even keep record of when their employees are at or away from their
computers.
All this monitoring and secret data collection may violate
an individual's personal privacy but it is mostly legal. Businesses own the
computers and networks that their employees use and so have a right to check on
how they are used.
Example only - essay incomplete
@
Bibliography
OLMSTEAD v. U.S., 277 U.S. 438 (1928)
URL
http://laws.findlaw.com/us/277/438.html Accessed 09/15/2004
Privacy Rights Clearinghouse Employee
Monitoring: Is There Privacy in the Workplace?(1993 revised 2002) URL
http://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs7-work.htm Accessed 09/15/2004
