Ever Get the Feeling...

05/23/2005

A poll of US companies by the American Management Association and the ePolicy Institute finds that monitoring of employees' online activities is common.

Over 60% of companies said that they monitored and reviewed which sites all of their employees visited, and another 14% monitored the Web surfing of certain job categories. Less than 25% did not practice any monitoring of Web use.

Almost two-thirds of companies used some kind of blocking software to prevent all employees from reaching certain sites, and 26% restricted the browsing ability of certain job categories. Just 9% said they did not block any sites.

If employees do get in trouble for using the Internet for personal use, most cannot say their company was being secretive about it. Over 80% of companies reported having written policies regarding personal use of e-mail and the Internet. About 25% have fired employees for inappropriate use of the Internet, and about the same percentage have done so for misuse of e-mail.

Only 27% of companies report having policies on using cell phones in the office. As e-mailing and Web surfing via mobile phones gain popularity, it will be interesting to see if companies adjust their policies.

E-mail monitoring in Europe generally is more common, according to a poll of 600 IT directors by Hitachi Data Systems. Only 30% of companies in countries like Denmark and Sweden report keeping track of what their employees are doing with e-mail, but the level in France and Spain tops 70%. The average in the study, which included most of Western Europe as well as Israel and South Africa, was 56% for e-mail monitoring and 36% for IM monitoring.

Monitoring online activities and having a policy regarding personal use do not necessarily mean such use is banned. For example, a META Group study from November 2004 found that about two-thirds of companies worldwide surveyed about their policies said that they allowed limited use of e-mail for personal reasons, and 44% allow limited use of IM for personal reasons. Only 16% ban personal IM use completely, and only 5% ban all personal use of e-mail.

Source of Article: eMarketer

Date of Article: May 20, 2005