Essay on Privacy in the Workplace - 2455 Words

Privacy in the Workplace Introduction Technology has developed in leaps and bounds over the past few decades. The case is that the law always has difficulty keeping pace with new issues and technology and the few laws that are enacted are usually very general and obsucre. The main topic of this paper is to address the effect of technology on privacy in the workplace. We have to have an understanding of privacy before trying to protect it. Based on the Gift of Fire, privacy has three pieces: freedom from intrusion, control of information about ones self, and freedom from surveillance.1 Peoples rights has always been protected by the constitution such as the Fourth Amendment, which protects people from unreasonable searches and†¦show more content†¦Companys can monitor almost every type of communication that an employee makes and there are very few laws which protect the employee. One of the few laws which have an affect on the technological medium is the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 (ECPA).8 The ECPA prohibits the interception of email by unauthorized individuals or individuals working for a government entity, acting without proper warrant.9 ECPA is concerned with people who are not authorized to have access to this information and it wants to keep companyies from trying to intercept valuable information of other companies, but it does not have any specific prohibition for an employer to monitor the e-mail of employees.10 With technologies such as email, voice mail, telephones, and computers the employer has a lot of leeway. Employers can monitor their employees communications, within reasonable limits.11 When dealing specifically with phone calls the law generally sides with companies, since it is there equipment and should be used generally for business purposes. 12 If a company doesnt have stated policy about phone monitoring then an employee should assumed that it being monitored, because very few states have laws about phone monitoring except for California.13 California states that if a person calls into the company then the customer must be notified that the phone calls are being monitored by playing a messageShow MoreRelatedPrivacy in the Workplace1140 Words   |  5 PagesExplain where an employee can reasonably expect to have privacy in the workplace. Privacy in the workplace is very hard to get. Advancements in technology have been made that allow companies to monitor every aspect of an employee use of their systems. This is very evident if you have a job that involves you to be on the telephones. 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