ARTHUR LOK JACK GLOBAL SCHOOL OF BUSINESS

INFORMATION SYSTEMS SECURITY, ETHICS, AND LAW

0/19/2010

Course Code: ISTM6005

Cohort: 4.

Lecturer: Mr. John J. Lewis

Employee Monitoring in The Context of Ethics, Law and Information

Security
Program: Masters Information Systems & Technology Management.

Date: Sunday, 10 June 2018.

Student Name: Sean St. John

Contents
Introduction .................................................................................................................. 2

Employee Monitoring: The Technology ....................................................................... 2

Is it Legal? ................................................................................................................... 2

Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 3

References ...................................................................................................................... 4

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Introduction

The question of who is guarding the guards is fitting in this scenario. The access to
information is critical to the success of any organization or firm, and as such huge
investments have been made in the technology surrounding this area. The
advancements in technology have led to an increase in the ease of the implementation
and operation of surveillance systems making the decision for employers to implement in
their workplace an easy one. Their purpose or raison d’etre can be justified by the need
to protect their organization against unethical actions and to increase information security,
but who defines what is ethical and what isn’t?

Employee Monitoring: The Technology

Traditionally, monitoring activities on employees are conducted electronically using a

variety of methods. From the implementation of surveillance cameras to software
programs with the capability of tracking an employee online activity. At the Gartner
Security & Risk Management Summit, managing vice president Andrew Walls explains
“when overseeing employees you need to monitor and receive feedback while providing
full transparency in order to maintain consistency and coherence in the enterprise”
(Rivera 2015)

Does providing full transparency make it ethical? That depends on what side of the table
you are sitting on. From an employees point of view, it can be seen as a violation of their
privacy. From the view of the employer, despite the invasive notion employees may have
towards the same, they may see actual value in it. E.g. Increased performance, security
in the aspect of breach containment.

Is it Legal?

In Trinidad and Tobago, the Data Protection Act, 2011 speaks towards an individual’s
rights to privacy and how information is gathered, stored, and shared but it does not speak
towards location privacy nor specifically, employee monitoring. (Government of the
Republic of Trinidad and Tobago 2013)

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The United States took steps to circumvent the ethics surrounding employee monitoring
by enacting the Federal Wiretapping Act/Electronic Communications Privacy Act, which
prohibits the “intentional capture or disclosure of any electronic communication where
there is a reasonable expectation of privacy”, the act further goes on to state that “in order
for a US employer to legally monitor employees, the employees must have full knowledge
and provide prior consent” (Gwen 2013). This clearly states that the employee must give
consent to be monitored, removing the aspect of it being unethical.

Conclusion

The understanding that the times of a work scheduled is considered the employers time,
one thing that remains common amongst these laws is the rights of employees to their
privacy. The use of an employers property whilst at work does not provide them with the
right to violate an employees privacy. As such employers must be cognizant of the
differences between surveillance and monitoring and how it is interpreted in the minds of
employees. According to Gartner “monitoring occurs when employers occasionally view
a company computer or similar equipment for proper use and the activity serves a
reasonable purpose, and with prior consent and notification. Surveillance is defined as
tracking an individual's activities” (Gwen 2013) This often leads to negative pushback
from employees and reduces productivity in the workplace.

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References

Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. 2013. Ministry of The Attorney
General And Legal Affairs. Accessed June 9, 2018.
http://www.legalaffairs.gov.tt/index.html.

Gwen. 2013. Employee Monitoring and Surveillance: Important Laws You Should Know.
15 June. Accessed June 9, 2018.
https://www.remoteutilities.com/about/blog/Remote_Utilities/employee-
monitoring-and-surveillance-important-laws-you-should-know/.

Rivera, Janessa. 2015. Employee Monitoring and Ethical Alignment. 25 June. Accessed
June 9, 2018. https://www.gartner.com/smarterwithgartner/employee-monitoring-
and-ethical-alignment/.

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