Employee monitoring: When IT is asked to spy

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9177981/Employee_monitoring_When_IT_is_asked_to_spy?source=rss_gdm

With staff surveillance on the rise, high-tech types can be put in the awkward position of having to squeal on their fellow workers.

By Tam Harbert June 16, 2010 06:00 AM ET

Computerworld - It's 9:00 in the morning, or 3:00 in the afternoon, or even 10:00 at night. Do you know what your users are up to?

More than ever, IT managers can answer "Oh, yes" to that query.



As corporate functions, including voice and video, converge onto IP-based networks, more corporate infractions are happening online. Employees leak intellectual property or trade secrets, either on purpose or inadvertently; violate laws against sexual harassment or child pornography; and waste time while looking like they are hard at work.

In response -- spurred in part by stricter regulatory, legal and compliance requirements -- organizations are not only filtering and blocking Web sites and scanning e-mail. Many are also watching what employees post on social networks and blogs, even if it's done from home using noncompany equipment.

They are collecting and retaining mobile phone calls and text messages. They can even track employees' physical locations using the GPS feature on smartphones.

More often that not, IT workers are the ones being asked to do the digital dirty work, primarily because they're the people with the technical know-how to get the job done, says Nancy Flynn, executive director of the ePolicy Institute.

Statistics are hard to come by, but Flynn and other industry observers agree that monitoring and surveillance are becoming a bigger part of IT's job.

FULL story at link.

[Lost4words]

1. this doesn't follow your usual economy improving cheer leading!

did one of your supervisors suggest you vary your post in order to conceal your primary objective?

[Omaha Steve]

2. I'm home training our new puppy today

Thought this looked like a thought provoking article that hits on the workplace. I also post a few articles that point out when unions or individuals in them go bad in this forum, such a a treasurer stealing funds.

I also post in LBN, GD, Presidential, GLBT, Choice, Environmental, Animal Rights, ....

[Sherman A1]

4. ?

I always find Steve's post to be thought provoking and informative. I cannot recall one that could be called "the economy improving cheerleading". I see your comment as a bit mean spirited.

[Lost4words]

5. You are quite correct!

[MineralMan]

3. On company computers, employees are on company time.

The company owns the computers and network, and pays employees for the time they spend on the clock. It's unreasonable to expect that the company will not monitor how their computers are used. Whoever expects privacy on computers owned by other people is a fool.

As for things like blogs and social media. Those are public postings, as far as I know. If you post in a public place, anyone can visit that public place and view your posts. Now, if you make your posts private, and someone views them by hacking your password, you are correct to be alarmed. But, if someone visits your public blog or other place, well...it's a public place.

It's incumbent on all computer users to know whether they are posting really privately or not. At a company, using company equipment and networks, the answer is obviously no. If you create a blog or post openly on social media, without restricting who can view your posts, you cannot have any expectation that your company will not view those postings.

It's so simple.

[Omaha Steve]

6. A few months back 2 Ne prison guards were fired for comments made from home

They were derogatory comments toward inmates on a social networking page.

[MineralMan]

7. Hmm. I wonder if some sort of privacy rule was not violated.

I imagine that there is a rule in place about inmate privacy issues. I also imagine that these guards broke that rule.

What do you think?

[MineralMan]

8. I did a little research:

http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/news/state-and-regional/nebraska/article_199fee9e-32b5-11df-8051-001cc4c03286.html

"LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) -- Three Nebraska prison guards have been fired after one bragged on his Facebook page that he enjoyed using force against an inmate, and the other two posted comments in support.
But the Department of Correctional Services said Thursday that its investigation and one conducted by the State Patrol concluded the inmate wasn't abused.

Prisons spokeswoman Dawn-Renee Smith says the inmate was not injured and the use of force on Feb. 8 at the Nebraska State Penitentiary was justified.

Prisons chief Robert Houston says inappropriate actions or statements that could lead to dangerous prison situations can't be tolerated.

On the Facebook posting, guard Caleb Bartels said a good day as a guard includes "getting to smash an inmate's face into the ground."

Fascinating. I'd fire their dumb asses, too. There's enough trouble in prison without vicious, violent guards, don't you think? Public messages are public. Say stuff that would get you fired sometimes does. and so it goes. Dumb asses, all three of them.

[Greyskye]

9. Makes me glad not to be a cube rat anymore.

The one bright side of being laid off?

I would take occasional surfing breaks in between intensive, long, multi-hour breakless sessions at work. Especially when I had to wait for simulations or automated tasks to complete. And then that surfing tab might get left up forgotten for hours more while I dove back into the work.

[rbixby]

10. I work in IT and all this stuff is a royal pain in the ass

Seriously, we have much better things to do than to snoop through people's stuff. I don't know how it works at other organizations, but we do keep a record of all emails sent on company accounts forever, we have never been asked by higher ups to monitor people's online activity, but if that were the case, we would definitely have to do that. I'm sure some people get a kick out of invading other people's privacy and bringing the hammer down on them for doing something they're not supposed to. I'm definitely not one of those kind of people. We've never had an issue at my company with this kind of thing, and hopefully we can keep it that way. One thing people DO need to understand though is that in the workplace, and particularly on company equipment, you have no right to privacy. Privacy is extended at the whim of the employer, so people need to be aware that employers are well within their rights to spy on their employees on company time and on company equipment.
It sucks, but that's the way it works.