...can never seem to find the exact feeling of privacy that they desire. In the United States of America, the problem of surveillance dates back to the times of World War I, yet during these times it was a benefit for the people of the United States. As time progresses, the government continues to form new organizations to keep a “helpful” eye on the people that are housed within our nation. Many American people have begun to realize the problem with the government’s “helpful” eye, and this has lead them to see the abuse of surveillance by the United States government as it infringes on the First Amendment of the United States of America. The government and big...
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...modern day society (Bernard, 2009). Surveillance is one of the areas in which technology is very evident. Technology has improved the way of life of man including easily spotting thieves, terrorists and other people who might want to indulge in illegal activities such as drug trafficking. However, there are a number of challenges that are surrounding the surveillance technology. There has been a legal tussle that is challenging the surveillance of people on different fronts. Due to court cases that are already in progress, there has been suggestion on the extent to which the government or other private firms should carry their surveillance activities. NSA is one of the government firms that have...
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...Big Brother Surveillance is Acceptable In an age where cameras and social media follow people everywhere, integrating themselves into their daily lives, a question as to how much privacy they can truly maintain away from the government is hotly debated. The government has the abilities in this modern age to watch, listen, and read whatever is out in the open, but it should be fair because these privileges allow the government to keep America safe and stay vigilant over potential threats. The National Security Agency (NSA) should be able to invade American citizens’ privacy to a certain extent for the sake of protection. To keep the country out of harm’s way, sacrificing a minimal amount of security is genuinely reasonable and civil. One of the most common modern day tools seen encompassing people are cameras. When they’re not wielded in someone’s pocket or hands, they are all around: mounted on buildings in neighborhoods, public places, and around traffic signals. Many argue that these...
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...people ask in the United States of America is, “Are we being watched when we do this?”. Some would say yes, some would say no. It all depends on who you talk to. Government surveillance has been a well-known and widely used practice for a very long time, and most especially since the increase in global terrorist activities. This practice can be traced all the way back to 2001, starting with the government phone tapping citizens under court restrictions. Coming in the later years around 2009, cameras were being placed all around the country in order to keep an eye on the safety of and activities...
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...Surveillance over the internet is a relative new thing that has happened over the past 30 years. Recently in the past 15 years the restrictions and surveillance over this valuable resource has greatly improved. Not only are governments getting in on the data mining but also corporations. I highly disagree with the idea that it is okay to know what individuals are doing on the internet and to restrict content due to that. This paper will describe what monitoring is happening of the internet (that we know of) and describe why it is negative for the world of internet users and I will show you what is happening to you right now. “You are currently being profiled by the things you search, look at, click on, etc. Things called cookies are stored...
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...Electronic Surveillance of Employees LEG 500 Law, Ethics, and Corporate Governance January 22, 2012 1. Explain where an employee can reasonably expect to have privacy in the workplace. Human beings need privacy and have a right to expect privacy in certain areas of their lives. The areas where an employee can reasonably expect to have privacy in the workplace are very limited. Common decency precludes monitoring in highly private locations, such as bathrooms. Personal items, such as purses, wallets and gym bags may also be considered to be off-limits. The employee can also reasonably expect privacy during personal telephone calls at work. In Watkins v. L. M. Berry (1983), the court upheld upon appeal that employers must stop monitoring calls upon realization that the call is of a personal nature. Exceptions to this are when employer policy specifically forbids calls of a personal nature. Here the employees need for privacy directly conflict with established policy. Privacy protection may vary with state laws and federal statutes. State laws on privacy in the workplace may differ with some states offering much more privacy protection to the employees than others. For example, Volkert (2005) reported that while electronic surveillance may be allowed in Idaho, it must have a specific purpose and record video only (no audio). Government employees are likely to have greater privacy rights than private sector employees due to protections under the Fourth Amendment of...
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...Electronic Surveillance of Employees Professor Michael Hall Law, Ethic, and Corporate Governance- LEG 500 November 1, 2011 Explain where an employee can reasonably expect to have privacy in the workplace. You may think your United States employee rights authorize you to have a privacy workplace. People are wrong because, according to workplace privacy studies, the odds were good that your employer was monitoring all your internet actions, including your web pages and chat rooms (Niznik, 2011). If your company policy does not state there is a workplace privacy policy, your employer may watch, listen, and read just about everything in workplace area. Employers have the right to protect their business, their finances, and all of their equipment. The American Management Association (AMA) conducted a study of 526 employers which most use some type of electronic surveillance of the employees (Niznik, 2011). Many employers will deny they use any type of electronic surveillance however; the odds are good that your employer has “the eye,” watching your every move at work. Employers are not required to provide workplace privacy because your employers own everything you use at work. Your employers own the computers you work on, the telephones you talk on and the buildings in which you work. There are only a few weak employee workplace privacy right laws that exist. Since there are so few workplace privacy laws, it is legal for “the eye” to spy on you without your...
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...Since the invention of radio, intelligence-gathering organizations have been developing and using eavesdropping techniques to intercept and review wireless communications. Initially, these capabilities were solely used to spy on hostile nations, and particularly for military purposes. Human operators had to manually review each transmission, and cryptanalysts pored over military ciphers in an attempt to decode important messages. As wireless communication has become an integral part of commercial and individual existence, and potential threats to security are increasingly found in peacetime and on home ground, the scope of this intelligence gathering has likewise broadened. One of the most controversial eavesdropping systems in existence is a classified project known as ‘Echelon.’ Its use of computer hardware and software to filter communications from all over the world brings up many ethical issues related to the impact of computers on privacy. Overview of Echelon Most of the evidence for Echelon is circumstantial, though a few facts have been established. The participating organizations (notably the US Central Intelligence Agency and National Security Agency) have neither confirmed nor denied its existence. In lieu of a discussion of the ethical issues, a brief summary of the current knowledge follows. How it Works Echelon is the product of Cold War efforts to monitor wireless communications in the USSR. It traces its roots back to the clandestine UKUSA...
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...more obvious aspects of this effort against violent extremism, which violate human and constitutional rights, such as drone strikes, waterboarding, and black prison sites, are specifically targeted toward a specific population, it is the subtler aspects of mass surveillance and corporate and governmental intrusion of privacy which present an overwhelming threat to human rights and quality of life. As has been made clear by recent revelations of the scope and depth of these intrusions, internet users specifically have many reasons to suspect that private information entered online is vulnerable to un-ethical intrusions by third parties. However, many groups and individuals have come together to bring resolution to the issue of personal privacy and national security. According to article 12 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, no one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, or to attacks upon his honor and reputation (Lachmayer 749). However, the more subtle aspects of the new counter-terrorism age include a heightened amount of internet surveillance, video surveillance of public spaces, electronic eavesdropping, and data retention. Additionally governments have access to bank accounts, travel booking information, and data held in cloud storage (749). In other words, nearly every aspect of modern life can not only be monitored, but due to recent technological expanses, the captured information can also be stored...
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...all of the problems that arise from government information gathering and surveillance. He builds his ethos as a moral and credible writer by demonstrating his scholarly credibility and expertise, as well as establishing his logos by presenting the audience with logical arguments and conclusions, and finally developing his pathos through the use of dramatic and emotional language in order to appeal to the audience’s emotions. Solove focuses on building ethos and creates an ethical appeal to...
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...Running Head: Electronic Surveillance of Employees Electronic Surveillance of Employees Tenika Farris Professor: Anne Dewey- Balzhiser LEG 500-Law, Ethics & Corp. Governance 10/22/2011 Introduction New technology allows employers to monitor the job performance of their employees which has become a common practice in some workplaces. This procedure can be accomplished through e-mail, telephone, camera, internet and other electronic surveillance monitoring systems. This procedure was designed to be used solely for business purposes. In many instances employees have been made to feel as if their privacy has been invaded. Upon implementing such practices employers and employees both have a need to be knowledgable of any policies permitting the use of monitoring devices and to know their rights. Research The Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 (ECPA) is the only federal statute that offers workers protections in communications privacy. ECPA prohibits the intentional interception of electronic communications. However, the ECPA contains loopholes that facilitate employee monitoring. First, employers are permitted to monitor networks for business purposes. This enables employers to listen in on employee phone calls or to view employees' e-mail. Employers may not monitor purely personal calls, however, in order to determine that a call is personal, employers usually have to listen to portions of the employee's conversation. Second, an employer may intercept...
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...Explain where an employee can reasonably expect to have privacy in the workplace. Is there truly such a thing as privacy in the workplace? In today’s society it is possible for companies to monitor every aspect of what employees do in the office environment, from email, surfing the Internet to phone conversations. Federal and state laws specifically address an employer's right and ability to monitor, save, record, access, or otherwise conduct surveillance of employees' use of company electronic communication resources and systems. Generally speaking, if an employer complies with the notice and consent requirements under these laws, and writes and distributes policies consistent with the laws, it will be difficult for employees to show a reasonable expectation of privacy in using company-owned electronic communication systems. But there are specific laws, rules, and regulations which grant certain employee privacy rights within the workplace. These laws govern Personnel records, social security numbers, monitoring and eavesdropping, medical records, drug testing, and background screening. Employees generally have a right to privacy in their personnel records, with exception of a few specific circumstances. This means that employers are generally not permitted to disclose personnel records of an employee to third parties without a legal obligation to do so or written consent from the employee's. The right can be found in state statutes, codes, or by judicial case law....
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...not the biggest part of everyone’s freedom because if anyone can come into anyone’s house at any given time or listen to all their calls and read all their text people will feel unsafe and without any freedom; It will feel like a prions where everything is being monitor. Everyone likes their privacy even if they do not have anything to hide just knowing that whatever they do or where ever they go will be only known to them and those they chose to share it with making them feel in control of their life, as opposed to when they think they are being watched and that their privacy is being disclosed they feel that the person monitoring them is in control of their life and cannot be trusted “… trust cannot exist where there is monitoring or surveillance, because trust is the expectation that others will behave in a certain way without the need to check up on them” (Boatright pg 120). The right to...
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... 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. This technology now enables an employer to record...
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...Employee Privacy Report Name COM/285 August 7, 2010 Instructor Employee Privacy Report Introduction The right to privacy is an inherent expectation of all citizens; however, the private citizen should not assume that he or she is afforded the same privacy protections at their place of employment. In fact, employees may find themselves more vulnerable. Other then the constitutional and legal requirements, employers have more latitude when it comes to delving into matters that some employees would otherwise consider personal and private. Therefore, it is important for employees to be aware of his or her privacy rights in the workplace, including policies regarding use of e-mail and Internet. Email and the Internet undoubtedly has revolutionized the way the entire world communicates. The irony is this technology erodes the expectation of privacy because users expose themselves to personal identity theft and it proliferates illegal and malicious activities such as child pornography; harassment; cyber attacks on personal and business networks; and attempts to steal intellectual property. All of this comes with a personal, legal, and financial cost, especially for businesses. Therefore, to protect themselves from legal action and monetary damages, it is necessary for businesses to implement policies that govern the appropriate use of their electronic systems. A Real-World Example of Email use, Internet use, and Privacy policies To demonstrate existing...
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