Workplace Surveillance

Workplace Surveillance

Did you know companies have the right to monitor all of their employees' computers? It's true; companies are able to monitor all employees' electronics to ensure they are being productive. If the company is supplying the computers, the company can do anything it wants, including tracking the computers.

Monitoring the employees' computers will help the business keep track if its workers are doing their job. Tracking the workers' computers will show the business if its workers are doing their job and if they're doing anything illegal on the web. When the worker is using company's Internet for personal purposes, it can cost the company not only loss of productivity but loss of profit. According to The Orlando Sentinel in 1999, workers using the company's Internet for personal purposes during work hours can cost the corporation up to around one billion dollars every year. (Mujtaba) Once an employee is on the Internet for personal purposes, the worker is actually wasting the company's money and time as each minute passes by. For instance, the employee is working as an accountant; his job is to record transactions through journal entries using a computer. While he's recording the transactions, he wanted to check his email; this can create a distraction which will lead him to do other things on the Internet. When a worker is on the Internet for non-work related things like social networks, online shopping, and watching videos, he is using the corporate's Internet for his own use and risking his job. This hurts the company because the company pays for the Internet so that workers can do their job and make profits for the company. When an employee is on the Internet and not doing his job, the corporation loses money and fewer things are getting done. When a worker is distracted by personal matters and basically puts work aside, he become unreliable and untrustworthy. The company can use this tracking program to make sure that all its employees are doing their job.

Using the corporation's Internet for personal uses will not only cost the company money but it can also bring lawsuits against the company. When a worker is using the business's Internet to access the web, anything he does on the web will carry the corporation's name. The Internet that is used throughout the corporation all has the company name imprinted it on it because each corporation stores its information at a router specifically for the corporation. Everything that the employee is doing on the Internet, whether it is legal or illegal, can be traced back to the company and they can be held liable (Mujtaba). An example of harmful illegal activity would be an employee using the company's Internet during work hours to view child pornography. The police can find out what company and what computer within that company was on the website by using software called Internet Protocol identifier to find the location of the company, the police then can press charges against the company. The software IP identifier is used by the police to track the IP address of the computer, each computer has its own unique IP address that no other computer has. This makes it easier for police to trace the location of the computer and make the proper arrest. Using a business's computers for illegal activity can have negative effect such as assault charges against the business. If the business is found not liable in court, thousands of dollars are still required to cover the lawsuit. Aside from losing money, the corporation will have to deal with publicity no matter what the outcome is. The corporation is often harmed by the bad publicity and this can lower the stock values of the company. Since the company can trace all employees' computers, the company can use the IP address to find out which computer was on the website, and take control of this misconduct and solve the matter internally, which means the employee have the option of firing the person in question. Being able to track employees'