Left this site to go read my evening web news, and what pops up on the Netscape News window, but this, courtesy ReutersI edited for space and relevance. Story can be found at tonight's Netscape News.
Knowing I risk the wrath of site admin. and others for lengthy quoting, but clearly, people need to pause and consider other issues beside their own comfort levels. People get fired, families lose providers, etc etc
Please, just rethink your positions on anonymous posting/posters.
All
Third of U.S. Employees' Web Use Monitored - Study
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - More than one-third of U.S. employees who browse the Web and use e-mail at work have their Internet use systematically monitored by their employers, a privacy group said on Monday.
The Privacy Foundation found employee monitoring to be growing rapidly, spurred by the cheap price of surveillance software and concerns about productivity and sexual-harassment liability.
The study found that of the 40 million U.S. workers who have Internet access in the office, 14 million, or 35 percent, are constantly monitored by their employers.
Worldwide, 27 million of the 100 million with Internet access were monitored.
Unlike earlier studies of workplace surveillance, which were based on questionnaires or surveys, the Privacy Foundation based its numbers on sales figures of monitoring software such as Websense Inc. (WBSN.O) and Baltimore Technologies Inc. (BALT.O)'s MIMEsweeper.
Surveillance software allows employers to monitor and record the Internet activity of an entire office, not just workers engaging in suspicious or potentially damaging behavior.
Federal law gives employers broad latitude to monitor their workers' activities, especially when they are using company computers or other equipment.
While the software may be cheap -- as low as $5.25 per employee -- its low cost and ease of use makes it easy for companies to overstep personal boundaries, said report author Andrew Schulman, chief researcher at the Privacy Foundation's Workplace Surveillance Project.