Big Brother in the work place, Orwell didn't have a clue

So you think that you are on break or at lunch or came in early and you deserve a little surfing time of your own? You figure that’s your time and your computer use is your own business and the company doesn’t care? Well think again. The technology exists for companies to track every minute of their employees’ workday and most companies are choosing to implement at least some of the protective measures available to them.

Why are they doing this? Some companies consider it a productivity issue – they want to ensure that their employees aren’t spending their days chatting up a storm in the porn rooms or using corporate resources to further a romance. In some cases it is a preventive measure for corporate sabotage and industrial espionage. Communications are tracked to ensure that no employees are leaking data to competitors or the press. In still other companies, it is an attempt to control liability for employees’ actions, such as screening email for sexually harassing comments or inappropriate humor.

According to the American Management Association, three quarters of major U.S. corporations record and monitor employee e-mails, computer files and phone conversations, as well as track Web sites workers visit on the Internet.

Companies aren’t just gathering this information for fun. They are using it to discipline employees. In 1986, Congress passed the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) which gave employers the right to monitor electronic communications "in the ordinary course" of business. While the Act specifies that employees have a “reasonable expectation of privacy”, this can be overruled if a company notifies an employee in advance or if the company’s interests are at stake. Obviously well-written corporate policy and procedure manuals are critical.

Can you just delete your “history” and “temporary internet files” off your hard drive? Nope. Sorry. Most companies use servers to allow you to access the internet. These servers usually have software that tracks every web site you go to and how long you stay on each page. Granted most companies don’t have the human resources to track every site of every employee, but they don’t have to. They can set their servers to flag certain types of pages (downloading sites, chat rooms, etc.). When these sites are visited your ID is tagged and a report is generated (daily, weekly, monthly – however often the company wants it) that lists the questionable sites.

Don’t make the mistake of thinking it is only Internet use that is tracked. Your email is considered corporate communication and can be tracked as well – including the chain mail joke you receive from friends and the love letter you drop to your spouse. Software exists (and is being used!) to capture every screen you visit with a snapshot and to capture every keystroke you enter. You may not be safe just because you are using Hotmail, rather than your company email, to send your communications. Communicating via voicemail? No dice… Software exists to track that too! Federal law requires that you be notified if your live conversations are recorded (i.e. the notice you often hear that this conversation may be monitored for training purposes, etc.), however those laws don’t apply to voicemail retrieval.

There are many ways of tracking people besides just their computers. Companies that use badges for entry and exit have a lovely documented log of your movements and times throughout the building. It’s common for companies to include video surveillance both to protect employees from intruders AND to protect the company from employee theft or workplace violence.