Your Boss Is Watching [View All]

[Supormom]

There was a time when folks could freely surf the Internet at work. Not anymore. Our expert debunks ten myths of workplace privacy in an online world.
Daniel Tynan
Wednesday, October 06, 2004
In a recent study on Internet deprivation, people forced to live without Net access for two weeks said they missed the "private space" the Internet provided them at work.

Well, I have news for you. That Internet account you have at work is not your private space. It's also your boss's space, and your boss's boss's space, and so on up the line. In fact, if you think you have any real privacy on the job, you're laboring under a delusion. Here are some of the more common myths about Net privacy at work.

Myth number one: My company would never spy on its employees. Maybe so, but if that's the case, you're in the minority. According to surveys by the American Management Association, nearly two-thirds of companies actively monitor where their employees go on the Web. Some 52 percent scan e-mail, and around one in five keeps an eye on instant messaging.

These companies aren't just being nosy. An employee who accesses objectionable Web sites could expose the employer to lawsuits for fostering a hostile workplace environment. Employees could accidentally (or deliberately) spill confidential corporate information over e-mail or IM, or allow worms to spread throughout a corporate network. And while there are tools that help you get around such employer restrictions--the Electronic Privacy Information Center maintains a page of them--you use them at your own risk.


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