Electronic communications such as e-mail and the internet improve employee productivity and efficiency. It is no wonder that according to Andrew Schulman the author of ?The Extent of Systematic Monitory of Employee E-mail and Internet Use, as many as 40 million American workers, which is nearly 1/3 of the entire United States workforce, have Internet and / or e-mail access at work.? In addition, according to the annual American Management Association survey of ?Workplace Monitoring & Surveillance? there are ?more than three-quarters of major U.S. firm record and review employee communication and activities on the job, including their phone calls, e-mail, Internet connection, and computer files.? The issues of monitoring have been heavily argued due to cases where employees have lost their jobs as a result of companies? monitoring their usage of e-mail and internet access Thesis: Although I strongly believe that our privacy is very important, there are situations when it needs to be given up for greater reasons.
English: Hamerschlag Hall and entrance to Wean Hal...
English: Picture of Wean Hall at Carnegie Mellon U...
Pioneer 10 a - Smithsonian Air and Space Museum - ...For example, in order to gain security in airports everyone needs to give up some of their privacy. Can you imagine an airport without any metal detectors, or without a bag x-ray? It would be a disaster, right? By letting someone see what is in your bags, what you are going to carry on the plane, and now even what is in your shoes, may prevent many things such as September 11th from reoccurring. How about in the workplace? Can you give up some of your privacy for greater reasons? This issue may be irrelevant to us right now but it will prove to be an important factor in our lives in the near future as we will be working ourselves. As of right now, according to the federal Electronic Communications Privacy Act, the employer has the right to...