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Published
by the Corpus Christi Caller-Times. CLICK FOR NEWSPAPER DELIVERY
Tuesday, July 10, 2001
Internet use is monitored for millions in work force
Study says low cost for software is a reason
Associated Press
NEW YORK - More than a third of the U.S. work force with access to the Internet have their e-mail messages and Web surfing regularly monitored by their employers, according to a new study released Monday.
Andrew Schulman, the study's chief researcher, attributes the prevalence of workplace surveillance to its ease and low cost - an average of $5.25 per monitored employee each year using commercial software packages.
"There are legitimate reasons to be worried about what employees are doing, but those legitimate reasons could also lead you to put cameras everywhere and record every phone conversation," Schulman said. "But those things aren't done for the most part."
The study was conducted by the Workplace Surveillance Project of the Privacy Foundation, a research group based at the University of Denver.
Hundreds of employees have been fired in recent years for using their company Internet systems inappropriately.
Although courts have ruled that employers have some rights to monitor use of their equipment, Schulman said companies sometimes go too far.
"The argument of, 'Well, it's our computer. It's our office' doesn't really work," Schulman said. "The bathrooms belong to them, too."
The study estimates that 14 million employees are under continuous surveillance using commercially available software. According to Nielsen/NetRatings, the total online work force in the United States is about 40 million.
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