The Ethics of E-Mails

Paper Summary:

This paper focuses on the issue of email privacy and whether employers have the right to read and act on private email sent by employees from their workstations. The writer explores both sides of the issue and the laws that have pertained thus far. The paper argues that while it would be unethical to invade the privacy of an employee's life outside of the workplace, the careful monitoring of online activities from a business owned computer or during business hours of work is perfectly acceptable. Employees are paid to perform certain duties while at work communicating with friends or surfing the net. The paper shows that the ethics of employer monitored online activity can only be brought to the question if it moves into the off duty hours and activities of the employees.

From the Paper:

"A recent study by the American Management Association concluded that two-thirds of businesses in the country monitor their employee email on a regular basis. Surveillance technology has developed software allowing the electronic monitoring of email and the software sales for such products is expected to increase(Kelly, 2001). There are several reasons for the monitoring of employee email including concern over legal liability and the desire to monitor productivity of their paid work hours. "Beyond productivity concerns, employers scrutinize employee email and web usage to avoid or mitigate potential legal liability for workplace sexual-harassment claims. Courts are increasingly finding employers liable for sexually harassing, hostile work environments when their employees use company equipment to transmit offensive e-mail or sexually explicit pictures(Kelly, 2001).""

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