AFFIRMATIVE — EMPLOYMENT — WORKPLACE SPYING — SIGNIFICANCE 276

MANY COMPANIES SPY ON THEIR EMPLOYEES

45% OF COMPANIES MONITOR THEIR EMPLOYEES

Jeffrey Rosen, associate professor at the George Washington University Law School, The New York Times April 30, 2000, SECTION: Section 6; Page 46; TITLE: The Eroded Self // acs-EE2001

A survey of nearly a thousand large companies conducted last year by the American Management Association found that 45 percent monitored the e-mail, computer files or phone calls of their workers, up from 35 percent two years earlier. Some companies use Orwellian computer software with names like Spector, Assentor or Investigator, available for as little as $99, that can monitor and record every keystroke on the computer with videolike precision. These virtual snoops can also be programmed to screen all incoming and outgoing e-mail for forbidden words and phrases -- involving racism, body parts or the name of your boss -- and can forward suspicious messages to a supervisor for review. E-mail can be resurrected from computer hard drives even after it has ostensibly been deleted. And companies are increasingly monitoring jokes and e-mail sent from home as well as work over company servers.

2/3RDS OF COMPANIES MONITOR WORKERS

EVE TAHMINCIOGLU, St. Petersburg Times, February 01, 1999, SECTION: BUSINESS; COVER STORY; Pg. 11 TITLE: BUSINESS TOOL OR BIG BROTHER? // acs-EE2001

The rise of technology in the workplace has made it easier and more economical for companies to monitor - and in some cases to spy on - employees by tapping into telephone conversations, voicemail, Web surfing and e-mail.

More than two-thirds of U.S. companies are monitoring workers in some fashion. They say the purpose is to curb theft, boost productivity and control costs. And they argue that workers are given fair warning that their communications are subject to monitoring whenever they are in the workplace, using company systems.

TWO THIRDS OF BUSINESSES SPY ON THEIR EMPLOYEES

Liz Stevens, KNIGHT RIDDER NEWS SERVICE Staff writer, The San Diego Union-Tribune, October 6, 1999, SECTION: NEWS Pg. A-1 TITLE: Careful! Your boss may be eavesdropping; Two-thirds of U.S. businesses spy on employees, study finds // acs-EE2001

Two-thirds of U.S. businesses eavesdrop on their employees in some fashion - - on the phone, via videotape and through e-mail and Internet files -- according to a 1999 survey by the American Management Association International.

And that number continues to creep upward, for several reasons.

2/3RDS OF COMPANIES SPY ON THEIR EMPLOYEES

MARLA DICKERSON, TIMES STAFF WRITER, Los Angeles Times, June 7, 1999, SECTION: Business; Part C2; TITLE: CAREERS / TRUST YOUR BOSS // acs-VT2001

Fully two-thirds of big companies surveyed recently by the American Management Assn. said they engage in a host of surveillance techniques to track employee performance, productivity, wrongdoing or potential liability on the job. Those actions include listening to employees' phone calls and voicemail, reading their e-mail, rifling through their computer files and videotaping their activities. About 15% of those firms don't tell employees what they're doing. In many cases, they don't have to.