If you search for computer monitoring tools on a search engine, you will see a range of tools designed to keep tabs on employees. These usually include disturbing features, such as the ability to track someone's activities without them ever knowing. But how legal is this, and can a boss get in serious legal trouble if his surveillance is discovered?
ContentsWhat kind of surveillance can take place?How legal is surveillance?When surveillance goes too farSurveillance made legalEmployers typically monitor employees for one of two reasons. On the one hand, they want to protect company assets. When a company owns a building and gives resources to its employees, they want to make sure that nothing is stolen or damaged. This includes employee and product location tracking, but can also mean email monitoring to prevent data leaks and breaches.
Another reason is that the boss wants to monitor employee productivity. It involves spying on what the employee is doing during working time. This can include keylogging, webcam snooping, and active app monitoring.
When breaking down the legality of this surveillance, many variables are involved. For example, different countries will have different ways of approaching this gray area.
For example, things become illegal when the employer tries to push their surveillance into the privacy of the employees. For example, if you use a work computer during a break to check your emails, the employer can legally see that you visited your email provider, but cannot browse your emails.
Similarly, any surveillance that occurs must have a business rationale behind it. If an employer is monitoring your phone calls to make sure you are following company protocol, that is fine. However, if an employer monitors a person with a speech impediment and makes recordings to share with friends for laughs, it is illegal.
Although the features of employee monitoring software may seem intrusive, the truth is that employers can legally monitor a lot of things. As long as it is related to the operation of a business, employers have a lot of freedom; however, as soon as he breaks into non-professional espionage, the employer acts against the law.
Do you think employers should tell their employees about software monitoring by law? Or is it an effective way to prevent misuse of property in the first place? Let us know below.
