The widespread use of electronic devices during the Information Age has led to the electronic monitoring of employees by employers. It has become necessary for employers to provide computers, email, and internet access to its employees to conduct business efficiently. This type of access has provided misguided employees with the opportunity to conduct personal business and illegal activities at work. In an effort to address these risks many employers have implemented electronic monitoring tools. Employee monitoring is generally considered to be any type of tracking method used to watch what an employee does while at work. Electronic monitoring is monitoring employees' e-mail, computer files, voice mail, telephone use, as well as the use of video and audio surveillance, computer network monitoring, and keystroke monitoring. According to a 2008 survey done by the American Management Association, sixty six percent of the respondents stated that they were engaged in the electronic monitoring of their employees. Many reasons exist for employers to electronically monitor their employees. The monitoring of employees can lead to results that are beneficial to the employer. One reason employers cite for monitoring employees is to keep employee productivity from decreasing. Internet access allows employees to surf the internet for business purposes but employers fear that they will use it unproductively by visiting travel websites, recipe sites, message boards, shopping online, conducting personal business and even visiting some other unsavory websites. It has been suggested that many employees visit internet websites that are not directly related to their job between five and ten hours each week.
While the amount of time is a concern for the employer, the nature of the websites that are visited by employees is even more important. Some websites can contain