They Probably Know More Than You Think! Privacy and freedom are extremely
valued in our society, and are to some extent legally guaranteed rights by the
constitution. Rapid advances in technology, in conjunction with compelling
motives to use this technology to control and exploit aspects of human life in
general, as well as the workplace, make urgent the question of what uses of the
technology should be permitted. This is a tough questions, but if businesses
would realize that their employees are the reason that they stay in business
then they would not have to violate the privacy rights of people. Employees and
companies need to work together to get past the employer/employee tension that
makes employees steal etc..., and employers put up surveillance equipment etc...
However there may only be 1 out of 50 employees stealing so does this justify
the surveillance or the other 49 (WRAC 420)? What about every day life? Would
you want to have lists of everything about you concocted and put on computer
databases for the whole world to know?
There really is a serious problem with the violation of individual
privacy today. From the workplace, to buying a vacuum and becoming part of a
mailing list, to the stress that lack of privacy causes people, no one is safe
from, big brother. No one likes to have someone sit over them and watch all the
time, and no one likes to be watched when they don't even know about it. Without
probable cause that one committed a crime no one has the right to deprive the
right of privacy to another, whether it be by selling names to a mailing list or
cameras watching every move they make while in the office. In the workplace
there has been an ongoing battle over what employers may do to monitor
employees. The work place isn't a place where you can expect the privacy of your
own home. However no one should have to be subjected to having their e-mail read
or constantly being monitored by cameras. Westin believes that any business that
wants to survive in this service oriented environment is going to have to be
concerned about the quality of service that is delivered through the
telecommunications and database oriented interface with the consumer (Westin
458). These kinds of surveillance create a stressful situation and are a
distracting means of employer surveillance evidence of this in his essay: 43
percent of monitored employees said that they suffered a loss of feeling in
their fingers and wrists, while only 27 percent of unmonitored employees
complained of high tension as opposed to 67 percent of unmonitored workers
(Whalen 436).
The damage done by a few corrupt or unprofessional executives is far greater
than somebody taking a little too long for a coffee break (Whalen 436). In the
work place a happy medium should be reached between employer/employee, such as a
reward system for honesty and quality work instead of driving employees crazy
with unneeded surveillance equipment. The undue stress put on people by new
technology is inexcusable. People don't like to feel like they are being looked
at, and when they do feel this way it causes stress both psychological and
physical (Whalen 436). This really isn't a problem in grocery stores or gas
stations where surveillance is needed to keep customers from stealing, but more
in the office setting where the employee may feel like Big Brother, is waiting
to pounce on even the most minor mistake. This stress that is caused makes
employees less productive, and leaves people out and about in everyday life
checking their behavior so they won't get caught on tape doing or saying
something that could later be misconstrued and held against them. The solution
to this is that there need to be limits on how that kind of technology is used,
(Whalen 437).
