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 THE STAT 26Percentage of wireless customers who use their cell phones to take picturesMore Vitals
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JULY 22, 2003
Ever-Sharper Eyes Watch You Work [Page 2 of 2] PREVENTIVE MEDICINE. The results speak for themselves: GM, which has used eePulse for two years in its Parma (Ohio) metal-fabrication plant, has found that employees have begun feeling better about their jobs, says Jay Wilber, executive director of Quality Network at GM. More important, they "are coming up with ideas to improve the business," he says. "You'll get enough good ideas to offset the cost" -- ranging from $24 to $120 per employee per year, depending on company size. And when it comes to uncovering problems, "eePulse would be much more effective than an invasive tactic," Wilber says. He adds that GM doesn't use video cameras to monitor its employees. Finally, many companies opt for blocking unwanted behavior instead of monitoring it, says Andrew Meyer, vice-president for marketing at Websense (WBSN ), a San Diego company that sells software used for managing employees' Internet usage. Its software stops workers from going to so-called spyware sites, which gather user information without a vistor's knowledge and can scan hard drives. The software also blocks employees from downloading hacking tools onto the company network. "CULTURE OF TRUST." This kind of protection will gradually become more widely used, believes Dan Geer, chief technology officer at security consultancy @Stake in Boston. Today, most companies protect their systems from incoming threats -- but don't prevent viruses from leaving their systems and infecting those of partners and customers. Such negligence could damage relationships, and Geer expects corporations to address this problem soon. The solutions can be as easy as screening outbound messages for viruses. The goal at many companies is to avoid making employees feel like inmates. "There's a culture of trust and respect for individuals in ourorganization," says Michelle Gaines, IT manager for the Port of Portland, which maintains a number of marine terminals, airports, and business parks in Oregon. And she wants to keep things that way. So the port doesn't monitor the contents of its employees' e-mail, and if it ever did, it probably would be only to block incoming spam, she says. What's more, most companies don't mind limited personal use of the Web. Half of Websense's clients set up the software to allow 30 minutes a day for employees' personal business, such as opening e-mail, checking stock quotes, or shopping. The rest of the time, these sites are blocked. Following recent layoffs, workers now end up bringing work home -- and it's only fair to allow them to bring some personal business to work, says Lewis Maltby, president of the National Workrights Institute in Princeton, N.J. About 90% of the AMA survey respondents report that they receive or send personal e-mail at work. SPARING THE INNOCENT. Of course, many companies in highly regulated industries such as health care and the financial sector will continue to become more vigilant. Also, companies will keep zooming in on employees suspected of committing fraud. So, workers would be kidding themselves if they expect to ever have more on-the-job privacy than they do now. "I don't think [companies] are monitoring without using the information," observes Matthew Finkin, labor law professor at the University of Illinois. Still, corporations can pinpoint the bad guys without making staffers feel like felons, in part by better educating employees on corporate rules. Today, a surprisingly small 71% of companies have written polices concerning e-mail, for example -- down from 81% in 2001, according to the AMA. In her reply to her Dear Abby reader, Phillips expressed hope that employees will become more aware of -- and more leery of -- workplace monitoring. That's bound to happen given the extent to which companies are watching every step workers take.
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