Ethics-electronic supervision

In this information age, electronic surveillance has become a widespread practice in business. According to The American Management Association 45 percent of major US companies monitor their employees electronically. This involves counting keystrokes, reading e-mail, listening to phone calls and using hidden cameras (Hays). The main concern with this practice is not the legality of such actions, but rather the ethicality. As stated by Charles Lewis, executive director for the Center for Public Integrity, "The right …

…trusted as well as respected. They do not want to feel like the enemy. Such treatment only promotes further hostility and even creates problems which never existed. Electronic supervision by employers is unethical because it completely disregards the rights of the worker. Employers cannot guarantee confidentiality of information or images and no laws exist to protect the employee. Businesses need to rethink their approach to this situation. Monitoring has many negative consequences including decreasing productivity.