...Privacy is a valuable interest and is now threatened more than ever by technological advances. Privacy is defined as the ability to control the collection, use, and dissemination of personal information (Fast Trac Course ). At one time people could once feel confident that what others may find out about them would be treated in a way that it would probably do any harm. Information technology has been beneficial for privacy. By having access to ATMs and online banking we rarely have to present ourselves to a teller. Online shopping offers similar benefits such as being able to shop without standing in long lines and being able to compare prices and research products before purchasing. However, since so much of what we do daily is done using a computer, it can pose a serious threat to privacy. This information can then be recreated to create detailed personal profiles that could not have transpired in pre-digital days. Furthermore, this information can be distributed far, wide, and immediately without our consent or even knowledge. Judicial remedies are unlikely to produce a satisfying or sensible balance between companies’ economic prerogatives and customers’ privacy interest. New technologies that has either unconsiously adopted or resourcefully applied privacy practices will continue to threaten personal privacy. Business will have to find ways to address this uneasiness. If companies remain complacent, underestimating the degree to which privacy matters to customers, harsh...
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...Workplace Computer Privacy Computer surveillance in the workplace is nothing new to people. It is commonly known that the employees are being monitored by the leader or boss. When computers and the Internet became prevalent, advanced surveillance increased. There are many employees monitoring software provided for employers to watch over employees' computers. The company administrators can monitor and supervise all of their employee computers including e-mails, chats, screens and even phone calls from time to time. Employees have few if any rights when it comes to electronic surveillance in the workplace. As Brown, Sonja D describes in the article “Naked at work: pssst! The boss is watching”, employees' right to privacy in the workplace is very limited. He asks a series of questions and presents us with several vivid scenes in the workplace, “Are there cameras in your workplace? Are the Websites you visit tracked regularly? Is someone else reading the e-mails you send and receive? How did your boss know that your three-day business trip with the company car was really two days at the client site and one day sightseeing?” (Brown, para. 2). Should employers monitor their employees' uses of these technologies? For the sake of liability, discoverability, productivity and protection of trade secrets and intellectual property, the answer is commonly yes. Can workplace privacy be ignored? Definitely not! The right to privacy plays a unique role in American law and society. Privacy ...
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...Computer Security & Privacy - TJX Case Backgroud: TJX, largest apparel and home fashions retailers in the off-price segment was struck with Security Breach in all of its eight business units in US, Canada and Europe. Intruder had illegally accessed TJX payment system to hack personal and credit/debit card information of an unspecified number of customers. Security breach had affected Customers - pay for the purchases made by the intruders/ card invalidated / expiring the spending power, Financial Institutions –re-issue the cards for those customers whose information was compromised, Store Associates –change their credentials for system access, Vendors, Merchandisers - Modify the information shared due to mutual network and Richel Owen, CSO- design long and short term strategy to address the security breach issue. Intruders utilized the data stolen to produce bogus credit/debit cards that can be used at self-checkouts without any risks, and had also employed gift card float technique. Case Analysis: TJX learnt about the hacking on December, 2006 through the presence of suspicious software and immediately called in Security consultants for assistance. TJX had been intruded at multiple vulnerable points – Encryption, Wireless attack, USB drives, Processing logs, Compliance and Auditing practice. Encryption - Intruder had accessed the card information during the approval process and had the decryption key for the encryption software used in TJX. This can be addressed by purchasing...
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...Assignment 2 Examine Computer Forensics and Privacy Computers and the Internet have become a pervasive element in modern life. This technology is also used by those who engage in crime and other misconduct. Effective investigation of these offenses requires evidence derived from computers, telecommunications and the Internet. The need for digital evidence has led to a new areas of criminal investigations: Computer Forensics. Forensic investigators identify, extract, preserve and document computer and other digital evidence. This new field is less than fifteen years old, and is rapidly evolving. Education in this field has focused largely on its technical aspects. However, there are significant legal issues and ethical problems that investigators must deal with. Failure to follow proper legal procedure will result in evidence being ruled inadmissible in court. As a result, a guilty criminal might go free. Failure to behave in an ethical manner will erode public confidence in law enforcement, making its job more difficult and less effective. Investigators must have a working knowledge of legal issues involved in computer forensics. They must know what constitutes a legal search of a stand-alone computer as opposed to a network; what laws govern obtaining evidence and securing it so that the chain of evidence is not compromised; what telecommunications may lawfully be intercepted or examined after they have been received; what legally protected privacy rights employees...
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...1. Explain where an employee can reasonably expect to have privacy in the workplace. With the increased use of technology, employers are constantly searching for new means to protect their company, secure their investments, and increase employees’ productivity. Because of this, employees cannot reasonably expect to have privacy within the workplace. Although employees would like privacy in their office, on their computer, and during phone conversations, there is no law legally granting privacy to employees in the workplace. The only place an employee could have a reasonable expectation of privacy is in the restroom. Also, since the employers need to know all employees are providing a proper job, that the workplace place is always secured, also because as the owner of the company he owns the computer network, the terminals and will be the biggest loser if the company fails, he or she is free to monitor employees in order to protect the business and at the same time the employees. Even if employees are sometime given today some minimal protection from computer and other forms of electronic monitoring in the work place, especially through union contract, the Fourth Amendment; or Connecticut, Labor Code Chapter 557 and so on, 92% of all of the US companies still conducting high electronic surveillance in the workplace according to the American Management Association (AMA) report of 2009. For example, personal calls are protected under federal case law. So when an employer...
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...Ethical and Legal Issues Concerning At-will Employment Jasmine Mills Park University Abstract As years pass by, every sphere of life is taking a new dimension; for instance, advancing technology. This has resulted in some ethical issues in workplaces such as cyberloafing, privacy, information technology usage, employee monitoring. Also, legal issues in workplaces such as lawsuits have emerged. Both employers and employees are worried about the ethical consequences resulting from the ethical issues While bosses use surveillance devices to keep track of their workers' activities and output, these workers feel that excessive monitoring is an attack on their confidentiality and privacy. The strategy of checking workers on a timely basis is contributed by the fact that bosses have rights over everything in the “at-will employment environment.” Additionally, this paper provides a proposal for reducing the ethical and legal issues. The paper also encourages organizations to generate and efficiently communicate ethical standards for workers in their companies. It also includes real examples of workers' perceptions as well as an emotional state from the surveys based on ethical and legal issues raised regarding the topic of study. Keywords: At-will employment, employee monitoring, Ethical and legal issues. Introduction At- will means employment can be terminated at any time, for any reason or no reason without facing legal action. Likewise, an employee can quit a job with or...
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...think workplace privacy laws and policies about monitoring emails, phone calls, and computer use should be in place within a company. The employer should be sympathetic and open to potential disagreements and questions which the employees may have about the reasons behind the workplace communication privacy laws and policies, including the protection of both the employer and the employees, the regulating state and federals legislations, the compliance expectations, and the potential consequences of non-compliance (Wakefield, 2006). When a company monitors its employees without employees being aware of it, it can bring down company moral and overall productivity. When the employees are aware from the start of employment that they will be monitored and communication privacy laws and policies are in their code of conduct the employees and the company can benefit from the program. The workplace communication laws and policies are viewed as ethical practice to protect the employee and the employer. Company use these laws and policies to monitor misuse of company transmissions such as: emails, internet use, telephones, and computers. Employees in turn need protection from employers who get in the way of employee privacy. Without the use of communication privacy laws and policies, employee may not be aware of what is acceptable use of company equipment. References Axia College of University of Phoenix. (2010). E-Monitoring in the workplace: privacy, legislation...
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...XCOM285 December 21, 2012 University of Phoenix Privacy Laws and Policies Debate I have looked at both sides of the argument when it comes to communication privacy laws in the workplace. There are some good points to monitoring employees, that I read about such as “using monitoring as a positive aid for training, improving service, ensuring compliance, protecting employees, customers, and so forth, and to assist in fairly evaluating employee performance.” But If I have to choose a side I would go against monitoring employee’s computers, listening in on calls, and video surveillance. I think my biggest concern is the fact that many employers will go too far. There will be no privacy at all for the employee in the workplace, except in the restrooms. I think this total lack of privacy and lack of trust shows an employer has no respect for the employees. Employers need to consider the effect such monitoring has on their employees since employee and employer attitudes about monitoring often diverge. There should be a pretty good battle over this issue, what with so many people being concerned with their privacy, but on the other hand so many companies making big money on software that is used to spy on a companies’ employees. Software manufacturers in 2004 expected the sale of computer monitoring and surveillance software to businesses to increase from $139 million in 2001 to $622 million in 2006 (Wakefield 2004). There aren’t any constitutional or federal...
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...205 How would you feel if someone that had never met you and had never seen your face was able to tell you that your favorite movies were “50 First Dates, 10 Things I Hate About You, and The Princess Bride,” and that you “browse entertainment news and like to take quizzes” (Angwin, 2010). Would you feel your privacy had been sbreached because someone must have spied on you without your knowledge? That is what happened to Ashley Hayes-Beaty. “Miss Hayes-Beaty is being monitored by Lotame Solutions Inc., a New York company that uses sophisticated software called ‘beacon’ to capture what people are typing on a website” (Angwin, 2010). According to PCWorld Magazine (Sullivan, 2012), personal web habits are being tracked by companies such as Lotame Inc. and Facebook, advertisers, and corporations that “stalk” consumers on the web, and then sold to marketers and the government without web users being informed or aware of it. People like Ashley are suing data brokers that “sold consumer profiles to other companies without taking steps required under the U.S. Fair Credit Reporting Act to protect consumers” (Gross, 2012). Digital consumer monitoring is a breach of privacy that needs to be addressed. Personal data is being collected and sold without consumer consent, and the current regulatory environment is weak. As this issue becomes more prominent, a variety of solutions have been proposed, such as personal data “lockers,” Shine the Light Law, and transparency within companies....
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...Process that has changed my life The internet has greatly changed the lives of many people in my country and definitely the world over. Now people are able to do things which they could not do before the coming of the internet. The following are how the internet has influenced many people: • E-banking • E-learning • Communication through emails, social networks and Skype, for example • Ecommerce • Surfing the internet for learning • Research. This list is not exhaustive. However one process that changed my life very much is through searching for jobs online. There are a lot of employment agencies that are online. People can register with them for their services. I registered with a number of employment agencies in my country. I can now search for jobs and apply for jobs on the internet in a fast and efficient manner. Before the use of the internet for that purpose people would be required to use express mails or postal services to apply for jobs. People could also travel for long distances in search of employment. I can no longer do that. I have changed jobs in the past ten years through online applications. It now takes very little time to search for employment. The employment agencies, can as well keep data bases of job seekers, so much that it is easier to find right candidates for employment. In the past ten years I changed jobs four times by the use of the internet. That has not been very expensive for me. Now I am earning a lot of money because I managed to search...
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...changed the way we relate to one another. It has also revolutionized economics and business”. The authors state that while e-commerce, the sale of goods over the internet, has boosted online sales, especially products like books, CDs and computer products; it has also raised important new ethical challenges. These challenges revolve around four main issues: security, privacy, identity and transaction non-refutability. There is no doubt that a new ethical dilemma has arisen and these authors propose two universal principles that must be upheld by internet commerce. The first ethical challenge of internet commerce is security, commonly referred to as “hacking”, ‘cracking”, or “page jacking”. Internet security breaches involve trespassing or breaking into computer networks, websites, and mailboxes. Hackers will steal information from confidential files, steal services or damage a system by swamping a PC, a server or a network. The second ethical challenge relates to privacy, which involves protecting the collection, storage, processing, disseminating and destruction of personal information. They continue that no one is anonymous on-line and what is nirvana for direct marketers is a nightmare for any consumer who wants to protect his or her privacy. On-line advertising can be targeted with great precision today, thanks to “cookies”, a mall text files that companies install on the hard drives of people who visit their sites in order to tract their profiles and browsing habits. Protecting...
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...Employee Privacy Rights in the Workplace Vicki Puckett COM 120 Allyson Wells October 8, 2006 Do you think that your employee rights entitle you to workplace privacy? Well, think again. The fact is that most employers monitor their employee in one way or another. In the workplace, many employers are violating the privacy rights of their employees by surveillance, genetic testing, and sexual orientation. According to some workplace privacy studies, there is a good chance that your employer is monitoring your internet activities, including the Web pages you read, and messages you read and post in forums, blogs, and chat rooms. Your employer could also be spying on you in several other ways as well. Some may include recording your phone conversations, videotaping your every move within the company, and tracking your location with the company cell phone. Such monitoring is almost entirely unregulated. Therefore, unless company policy specifically states otherwise, your employer may listen, watch and record most of your workplace communications. The rapid growth of workplace monitoring and surveillance technology has far out paced the development of laws that protect worker privacy interests. Modern technology has provided employers with more advanced and effective means of monitoring their employees. As a result, electronic monitoring of employees in the workplace has become far more prevalent in recent years...
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...Privacy in the 21st Century Eng 122 Mrs. Samaniego 10 June, 2013 In today’s society cameras are watching every step you take and every move you make. How do you feel about that? Someone is watching you, whether it is the surveillance cameras at a gas station or it’s the security guard in a shopping mall. Does this make you feel uncomfortable? You post something on Facebook and decide to delete it 5 minutes later, but did you know that it will always be on the internet although you deleted it? You may not see it but others will. In today’s society, personal privacy rarely exists. There are certain devices and tools that people use when trying to invade someone’s privacy including hidden cameras and satellites. Privacy no longer exists due to all of the new technologies and programs enabling the invasion of someone’s privacy. What is privacy? Do people today really understand what privacy is? Have they had the opportunity to experience privacy? The definition of privacy is “allowing an individual or group to seclude themselves or information about themselves and thereby reveal them selectively.” When something is private it is usually something personal or valuable to someone. Everyone likes privacy but...
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...global positioning satellite (GPS) technology, and cameras in many public locations, it has become ever more difficult to keep our lives private. It is the need for privacy that has raised tensions between employers and employees. With the rise of employee monitoring many employees feel that employers target them, or even discipline the employee for benign activities such as using social media applications on company computers. While employers would agree that they have the right to scrutinize “personal” activities, such as sending harassing emails or disclosing company secrets. Employers...
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...best day for some. But when people argue that privacy is better than security, it is hard to abolish the threats of terrorists. People would rather not have the government seeing what they are doing online than being safe on trips, at work, at school, anywhere. With the amount of terrorist attacks that are happening in the world today, national security trumps privacy in the United States. People are ok with putting every aspect of their live on social media, but they don’t want the government looking at what you are doing on the internet, even though invading the public’s privacy, it is saving their lives. Some people may not see it yet, but when the US is not under threat anymore, then they will. Wouldn’t you rather be safe at school or at work than have somebody potentially looking at your computer? If you’re not doing anything bad online that will raise suspicion then...
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