The Issue of privacy
I have never been one to fret over the prospect of being monitored when at work, because I believe it’s a “necessary evil” so to say, considering that companies can reassure that their workers don’t do anything hurtful for the company, and even more so when it comes to surveillance cameras on the streets.
So the prospect of knowing that everything I do at a job might be checked doesn’t bother me the least. If I’m at work, I realize that I’m thereby representing the company I work for. No matter how small an employee’s position is, they are still tied to that company and that is why I think bosses have the right to check up on their workforce.
However, I think there are a few things that make the difference between rightfully monitoring, and just plain snooping. Firstly, the employees should know whether the boss has intentions or not to monitor the employee, whether it be trough a tracker to check if the person is where he/she should be or trough mail scanning programs, to make sure no company secrets and such are included. I believe this will assure the employee that they are not secretly being spied on, something that obviously not many people enjoy, and they will probably be more confident in the company’s intentions. Secondly, I also believe it would help workers to be more inclined not to do anything “bad” considering that if they are well aware of the fact they might be caught, they will probably avoid doing it, not to mention that if they still should proceed with said bad thing, then they quite clearly deserves to be reprimanded.
But it still leaves the notion of that many think it’s just a blatant invasion of their privacy, and quite frankly, I think it’s just something people will have to learn to live with. The fact that companies can make it so easy for themselves to reassure that their employees are kept in line and thereby the safekeeping of their company, it is not something that will (or should) die down. But, like I said, I feel the companies can do their part in all of this by informing their workers of just what they intend to monitor, how, why, and most importantly, state out just exactly what they consider to be out of line (unless obvious, like porn surfing on work time and such, naturally).
That’s all work related, but there are also the thing of being watched out on the streets trough surveillance cameras, and I’ve seen programs of people complaining over them, that they don’t like the idea of constantly being watched wherever they go. It’s understandable, but I’m sure a lot of people would be glad they are there, if they are robbed or get in an accident with no one else around to help. It’s a bit of a mixed problem, since you should obviously be glad over the fact if you never find yourself in a situation that calls for the need of the cameras, but at the same time, if you never find the need for them, you never appreciate them and probably just resent them for their invasion of privacy.
Finally we come to the privacy of your home. This is the one place I believe everyone should really feel safe in their privacy. When I go outside of whatever, I enter the state of mind that “I’m now in public” and act accordingly, but that can be quite straining in the long run, so naturally it feels good to be able to come home and just do whatever you feel like. But I am a little conflicted over the fact that bosses and such would scan your blogs and whatnot for any content they might find inappropriate.
Putting up text in a open blog that anyone can read is to me the exact same thing as speaking in open public, I mean, the only difference is that your “speak” with text instead of actual words. But then again, assuming you’re posting it after work, it really should be counted as none-work related, and as such any boss that reads it should not have any right to mettle over the content, unless it contains actual company secrets or such, since we still do have the right to free speech.
So in the end, I think is ok, and probably necessary to keep going with monitoring and surveillance, to safe keep us on streets and for companies to guard themselves, but it’s also important that we make sure it only stays for those reasons. As long as I can feel safe in the fact that any boss that see what online activity I have isn’t frowned or “judged” solely on the content, but only in the occasion if it should contain something actually harmful to the company.
