Please respond to the following:

• Most companies have policies that regulate employees’ personal use of work computers during work hours. Some even monitor employee emails and track Web browsing history.
  • Do you consider this type of surveillance an invasion of privacy?
  • What are the advantages of restricting employee use of the Internet and email at work? Explain your rationale.

this is for the response part

o, I do not consider this type of surveillance to be an invasion of privacy, especially since it’s through work computers. These computers are meant for work purposes, so companies should have the authority to use them/monitor the information however they please. An advantage of restricting employee use of the internet and email at work is for a company to have its assets protected. Many jobs require training to look out for phishing scams and maintain privacy with job-related information. In my previous position, I was given a company credit card, which I used to purchase items from a variety of random websites. Simply going on the web puts my information at risk, so having employers be able to monitor this information will only further protect us as employees. Monitoring information and emails can also be useful in the event of an upset customer or even a potential lawsuit. By having access to that information, employers can be better protected.

Monitoring computers and employees’ work can also provide an advantage to employers in evaluating objective productivity and performance measures. My current position actually uses a system in which productivity and performance are both measured objectively. All phone calls are recorded, and texts and emails are also permanently documented through the system. Managers can then run a report that shows information such as how many customers were worked per hour, the amount of time spent talking with customers, the number of emails sent, the number of calls made, etc. Managers can use this information and compare it to other employees in similar positions to determine performance, raises and promotions, and generate training feedback. If there is a certain area that all employees are missing/doing incorrectly, they will be able to target and fix those areas by having the proof available that employees need additional training. While some employees can see this as managers hovering and constantly watching their every move, I think it’s important to realize that managers do not look at this information on a daily basis. Managers do not have time to sort through 1000s of emails and phone calls, rather, they can pick one or two every quarter to draw up against a scoring rubric. By being able to read emails and listen to phone calls, managers can highlight what employees are doing well, and what they can improve on, as well as make sure they are staying in compliance with company policies. Managers are simply trying to assure quality and customer satisfaction so that customers do not consider doing business with their competitors. By highlighting just one or two conversations per quarter, it keeps employees on their toes knowing that any conversation could be the one that is graded for performance measures. Finally, an advantage of monitoring work computers is the ability to protect employees from violence and illegal activity such as death threats, bomb threats, drug activity, harassment, bullying, pornography, etc. Employers c

second part for the response part

Tracking employees’ web browsers’ internet usage and monitoring employee emails are commonplace. It has been happening for many years. I can recall working in the corporate arena in the early 2000s when I first became aware that our phone calls were being monitored. Moreover, I was later informed by an IT employee that our internet usage and our company intranet were monitored. Some of the employees were taking advantage of a company privilege. In addition, our emails were screened as well. The Information Technology department blocked certain websites that were not conducive to our work schedule. I do not consider this type of surveillance an invasion of privacy because this is a business. We are employed to do a job and be proficient in doing so to make money for the company.

When potential employees fill out the application to work for a company, they know certain expectations and requirements; if you do the job you were hired to do, you would not have time to be concerned about internet surfing for personal gain. Also, you must always be professional whenever you send emails internally or externally. Remember, this is a business email, not your home email address. First, the advantage of restricting employee use of the Internet and email at work saves the company money. Employees’ misuse of extra time for personal use during company time can be costly. Therefore, if the company has restrictions company-wide, imagine how much time will be saved for the employee to process the work they were employed to do.

The bottom line is that the company hired you to do your job and to make a profit for the business. Besides, employees can utilize their cellular phones for email and the Internet. So, they can use their mobile phone for that purpose during their lunchtime or break time. The Internet has dramatically changed the business environment. Many of today’s most well-known organizations, such as Google, eBay, Amazon.com, and Expedia, were created as pure-click companies and would not exist without the Internet. Each organization operates an intranet and internal communication network that use the technology and standards of the Internet but is accessible only to people within the company. The Internet allows a company to establish direct customer links and expand into new marks (Daft, 1).