PCT ASSIGNMENT 3

Case Study : Electronic Mailing and Ethics

Onecommunieation technology rapidly growing in popularity is e-mail, the system whereby individuals send one another messages over a computer network. The e-mail recipient can, at his'her leisure, . display the contents of his/her e~mail box (which typically lists the sender of each message ,and ; some indication of each message's  content) and then decide which of those messagesto read This  method of communication  can be extremely convenient. The sender can transmit messages whenever he/she wishes; the recipient can read messages and write responses as time allows. admitted to snooping, 74% had searched computer work files, 42% had searched electronic mail, and 15%  had searched voice mail. Why had those searches been conducted? To monitor workflow, investigate thefts, or prevent industrial espionage, some said. But, whatever the purpose, there are no legal limits placed on employers 'spying' on their employees in their workplace. They are free to view employees on closed circuit televisions, tap their telephones, search their e-mail and network communications, and rummage through their computer files with or without employee knowledge or consent, twenty four hours a day.

Georgia Jones learned this lesson the hard way. An e-mail expert, she was hired by a high-tech computer software firm in California to assist with the installation of a new e-mail system and to provide training to the company's' 350 employees concerning how that system should be used. After she had taken the job, she met with officials of the company to plan e-mail installation and training. Among the many questions she asked was, 'Will However, the privacy of such messages his become a source of some controversy. In 1993, for eg Macworld published a survey showing widespred eavesdropping by employers. Based on' responses from 301 businesses employing over 1 million, workers, the magazine estimated that as many as 20 million Americans might be subject to electronic monitoring on the job. The Macworld, survey found that more than 21 % of the  respondes had searched their employees computer files, electronic mail, voice mail, or others
networking communications. Of those whO'. employees' e-mail messages be confidential?' 'Absolutely', she was assured. During the training sessions, she repeated this information for the company's employees; she had been told that e-mail messages would be kept confidential, so employees need not worry about the information they sent to one another. A few months after the e-mail system had been installed and all employee! had been trained, two first-line supervisors were fired by management. The rumour mill said they had been fired for being 'insubordinates', and that the e-mail mess:fges they had sent one another strongly criticizng the management had somehow ended up 'in'the wrong hands'. Because she was concerned about this rumour, Georgia decided she should meet with the company's president When she entered the'president's office to keep their appointment, 'she noticed a stack of computer printouts on the credenza located along one .wall of his office; A'closer look revealed the contents of these printouts: employees' e-mail messages. When she asked; 'What are those?', the president answered, 'None of your business!'

1. If you were Georgia, what would you do?

2. What breaches of ethics, if any, occurred in this case?

3. In your opinion, should employees have the right to inspect employees' e-mail files, voice mail messages, computer files, and so on? Why or why not?

4. If you were going to develop a code of ethics to address this. issue, what rules and guidelines might you include?