Web-Surfing at Work

Index of Topics

Sources provided by EFG

Old Site

Background

• The Boss is Watching: Workplace Monitoring on the Rise, E-Commerce Times .  A recent survey by the American Management Association revealed that of the 1,600 U.S. companies polled, 77% said they monitor and record worker communications--including email, Internet usage, and computer files. Of those companies, 90% informtheir workers of the monitoring.
• Do you surf in wwwork time? BBC NEWS.  Nearly half of office workers admit to spending more than three hours a week surfing the internet at work for their own pleasure.
• Web surfing "as addictive as coffee", CNN News.           Surfing the Web at work is an increasingly common habit that could be even more addictive than coffee, according to new research into Internet usage in the office.
• Caution: Big business is watching employees, CNN News.  Keep your privacy and your job. If you're reading this at work, someone may be watching you.
• 2005 Internet usage in the workplace: Survey results, Vault Inc.  See who does what for how long, when, and where.

 

Policy Arguments

Pro-web-surfing

• Employers OK With E-Surfing, Dan Verton, Computerworld.  Companies show leniency toward surfing; however, they are advised to create acceptable-use policies. 
• Some Bosses Help Staff Surf Web, Donna Howell, Investor's Business Daily.  Employers create company based portals to channel employee personal web use.
• For Now, Most Bosses OK Web Surfing, Kevin Featherly, Newsbytes.  Most bosses today accept - albeit grudgingly in many cases - the notion of employees surfing the Web for their own enjoyment.
• Study claims work not an impediment to personal websurfing at work, SatireWire.
  More than 80 percent of respondents to a new LGI/Gallup poll admit they do "some" or "a lot" of work while at work, but almost all insist they never let business-related matters interfere with personal Web surfing at the office.
• Personal Web surfing at work equals work surfing at home, AP News.  Attention employers: Don't be too concerned about personal Web browsing on the job. That is more than compensated by time spent at home completing office-related tasks, a new study finds.
• Web Surfing At Work: New Workplace Reality, Braunconsulting.com.  Recent studies have uncovered some interesting trends on the use of the Internet by employees, both at work and at home.

Anti-web-surfing

• Three weeks a year lost to web surfing at work, Chris Holbrook, Silicon.com.  Web surfing in the office by almost half of the UK workforce is costing employers dearly, as each web-addicted worker wastes around three hours a week - or a staggering eighteen days a year online.
• Web Usage Survey Reveals 75% Accidentally See Porn at Work, Directmag. More than 75% of people have accidentally visited a pornographic Web site while at work. Furthermore, 15% have visited such sites more than 10 times, according to a new Web usage survey conducted by Cerberian Inc.
• Employers block use of Internet services, Shawn Young, Sun Sentinal.com.  Workers losing access to many online goodies.
• Cerberian and SonicWALL Web Usage Survey Reveals 75% Accidentally See Porn at Work, Computer Times.   Personal Internet surfing and pornography plague the office. Survey validates need for Internet access management technology.
• City puts time limit on worker Web surfing, Rich Lord, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.   When some city of Pittsburgh employees tried to check the Internet Tuesday, they got an unusual message....
• Office surfers may face wipeout, Stefanie Olsen and Lisa M. Bowman, CNET News.com.  Employee Internet privileges took a beating when cable giant Liberty Media revamped its post-production businesses last year.
• Companies keep an eye on workers' Internet use, Stephanie Amour, USA TODAY.  A large percentage of companies are monitoring Internet use by workers, but many still allow at least some personal use of the Web.
  
  
  

Opposition to Privacy Legislation in United States

• Advocates Decry Business Opposition to Privacy Bill, David McGuire, Newsbytes.  Business interests stop bill concerning employee privacy rights.
• Popular Privacy Bill Stalls Due to Industry Opposition, David McGuire, Newsbytes.  Bill forcing employers to inform employees of monitoring tactics stopped again by business interests.
• Judges Join Protest of Digital Snooping, Matt Berger, IDG News Service. Federal employees get some high-profile support in their battle against monitoring software in the workplace.
  

Productivity and Legal Issues

• Your Boss Knows You're Reading This, Reuters , New York.  Employee privacy in the United States is under siege as old rules for what employers can and cannot monitor give way to a regime of everyday observation, patchy legal protections and conflicting business priorities.
• Workers, Surf at Your Own Risk, Michelle Conlin, Business Week.  Companies increase surveillance, increasing employee distrust.
• Legal Issues Involved in Monitoring Employees' Internet and E-Mail Usage, Douglas M. Towns, Gigalaw.com.  Many companies electronically monitor their employees' Internet and e-mail usage, but doing so can lead to lawsuits by employees who believe their privacy is being invaded. However, in a number of reported cases, the employees' legal claims have failed. This article explains the legal issues related to workplace monitoring and offers practical tips companies can take to protect themselves.
• Employee Monitoring: Is There Privacy in the Workplace? Privacy Rights Clearinghouse.   Employers want to be sure their employees are doing a good job, but employees don't want their every sneeze or trip to the water cooler logged. That's the essential conflict of workplace monitoring.
• Know your rights when it comes to web monitoring, Worksmart.org.  Discipline, rules, regulations, policies, and more.
• Internet monitoring at work and employee privacy, Joe Twarog, Labor Education & Training.  Mail that is addressed to you at work and marked “Confidential” is picked up by your supervisor. The nurse manager proceeds to open the letter and read the contents, then calls you into her office and disciplines you for what the confidential letter said about herself and the employer.

Methods

• High-Tech Snooping All in Day's Work, Greg Miller, Los Angeles Times.   Firms create and use software to prevent employee casual surfing; powerful computer forensics tools used also expose employee personal problems.
• Is Big Brother - or His Server - Watching You? Gene Koprowski, WIRED magazine. SilverStone Software Corp. has introduced com.Policy, a management tool and software application that allows businesses to combat computer-misuse on the job, by monitoring all computer activity.
• Nailing the Company Spies, Jeffrey Benner, WIRED magazine. Last summer, Raytheon rolled out its first IT product, a revolutionary network security program called SilentRunner.
• Procom Stores Web Usage, Byte and Switch.   As web surfing at work increases dramatically, more and more companies are taking a closer look at their Internet reporting needs, with an emphasis on compliance with new regulations such as HIPAA and ...