Corporate Spying by Employers Has Become Increasingly Common, Particularly in High-Tech Offices. Although This May Seem Reasonable, it is a Clear Violation of One’s Rights.

Corporate spying is becoming more and more common both in the United States and around the world.

Sophisticated electronic technology and other means are pressed into service to keep and ever-watchful eye on employees.

A study conducted in 2000 by the American Management Association found that of 2,133 companies surveyed, 73% admitted that they were spying or had spied on their employees (DeTienne, 2002).

Employers give many different reasons for spying on their employees, both electronically or by hiring a private investigator.

Some of the reasons they give for spying include: ensuring employees aren’t conducting any illegal activities, to protect their company and trade secrets, to prevent sexual harassment, and to make sure employees are being productive.

Anyone employed in a job that uses computers and other technologies needs to know that employers can monitor all their activities, such as knowing what emails they send and receive as well as what websites they’re visiting.

Government Spying

There have been many cases where the courts have ruled that employees don’t have a right to privacy in the work place, and it’s legal for employers to “monitor” their activities.

As technology becomes more and more advanced, people can expect that there will be an increase in corporate spying.

Many corporations already have software and other electronic systems in place so they can monitor threats to their networks and protect their corporate property.

Corporate spying is here to stay and no matter how much we dislike it, the reality is that Big Brother is keeping an eye on everything we do.

Employer Spying

When it comes to spying on their employees, there is no shortage of methods for employers to use.

Electronic surveillance is one of the more common ways for employers to keep track of what their workers are doing on a daily basis. And spying electronically isn’t just limited to email anymore.

Employers can monitor internet activity so they know exactly what websites their employees are accessing, how often they surf the internet, and how long a visit is to each website.

Key words used in search engines can also be obtained so employers know exactly what their workers are searching for and whether or not it’s work related.

Telephone calls are easily monitored: who was called, time of the call, length of the call, and how often a certain number is called.

If employers want, they even have the ability to eavesdrop on phone calls without anyone being the wiser.

Corporate spying also allows employers to determine what company information an employee is looking at such as what data they access on the intranet and what account information they look at.

Any information a worker can access can be tracked and monitored. However, company spying isn’t just limited to electronic means.

Many companies and corporations are hiring private investigators for all sorts of reasons, from checking up on prospective employees, to internal financial investigations.

Using Private Investigators

Available to any corporation is a network of investigative companies and private investigators, all of which are ready to provide employers with confidential services.

Most of these private investigators are Secret Service personnel, former policemen, state officers and FBI agents, among others.

They work on their own as freelancers or for national and international investigative companies.

Many companies believe that corporate spying is just part of business, particularly when they’re responsible to shareholders for any illegal activity that might be going on.

They feel spying is necessary so they can avoid any liabilities.

The Hewlett-Packard Company recently admitted that they hired investigative contractors to flush out leaks in their boardrooms.

HP hired investigators who then impersonated employees, journalists and HP directors in an effort to obtain personal information to get hold of employee’s home phone records.

Impersonating someone else in order to gain access to their personal information is called “pretexting”, which is illegal in California and some other states.

Although Patricia C. Dunn, the HP chairperson who instigated and authorized the investigation, resigned from her position at Hewlett-Packard, this is a good indication of how far companies will go to spy on their employees.

Protecting Yourself

If court rulings are any indication, it seems that spying by employers is here to stay.

So what can you do to protect yourself and remain as much out of the eye of Big Brother as you can?

For anyone who uses email, make sure the emails you send and receive are for your job only. Insist that family and friends don’t send you emails at work.

If you need to send out a personal email you should be using web email services such as Yahoo or Hotmail.

Anytime you’re on the internet, as for emails, it should be for work purposes only.

You don’t want to get caught surfing websites that have nothing to do with your job, especially if you’re doing so on company time. Try to limit the amount of personal phone calls you make and receive.

You want to work as much between the lines as you can so you don’t draw attention to yourself and your work habits.

It will be interesting to see in the next couple of years what the laws and courts will do, as more and more companies resort to spying to keep an eye on what their employees are up to.