3/4 of Companies Monitor Employee Web Browsing
Wed May 9, 2007 12:30PM EDT
See Comments (95)
Bad news, folks: Your boss is probably watching you read this blog post. A whopping 78 percent of CIOs in a recent poll confessed to installing content filtering or blocking software on their networks or otherwise watching what you do. The good news, I guess, is that you can always say it's work-related, right?
If you're worried about sweaty IT guys looking over your shoulder, the news isn't quite so bad. Most of the "monitoring" seems to be done on an ad hoc basis and as a matter of policy which blocks content or allows for monitoring. Only 14 percent of those queried actually use site filtering software and 4 percent block all web access.
While a shocking 60 percent of executives said "they want to keep their employees from wasting time at work," an even greater number cited genuine issues behind why they need monitoring software. 75 percent want to block inappropriate content (which can land an employer in legal trouble if it falls on eyes that don't want it), and 71 percent block websites to prevent viruses and malware from getting onto the network. Infected websites are possibly the most prevalent way that spyware is distributed today. It's hard to be angry over monitoring when ill-advised browsing can genuinely harm the company.
Is your boss watching where you surf? Do you even know?
Comments on 3/4 of Companies Monitor Employee Web Browsing
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2 Posted by hfrank9 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:18PM EDT Report Abuse
As small business owner I can tell you that if I wanted to pay for people to surf the internet and do online shopping, personal email, and other assorted non business activity, I would have created and hired for a position like that. If someone hires you to do a job then you should do it. Any lame excuse you come up with to do what you want rather then what you are getting paid to do is stealing.
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3 Posted by mps_resume on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:27PM EDT Report Abuse
hfrank, I have to disagree. Internet usage at the workplace is something that management is better off not knowing too much about. The bottom line is that your employees must not feel that they are being 'watched' all of the time. Content-filtering and site-blocking are great tools, and can let your employees know their boundaries. Internet usage in the workplace is commonplace, and has become sort of an unspoken 'perk'. Let your employees check their email, read the headlines, or pay the electric bill online. As long as it doesn't interfere woth their assigned duties, the only thing it's going to stop is them getting too burnt out too quickly.
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4 Posted by torri_washington on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:18PM EDT Report Abuse
When is someone going to do a study on, how much employees are underpaid for the services they provide. When will employers understand that college degrees are not cheap and employees should be rewarded with cash incentives not company parties, cookouts and T-shirts like they work at Romper room.When are employers going to stop expecting employees to go above and beyond their job description and get the same pay. When are employers going to stop letting certain people under them slack off and having one or more of their deserving employees pick up that slack.When that survey is done and noticed then maybe employees would stop surfing the net at work. Or stealing from their company as some might put it, and if an employee's position should be paying a certain amount and it doesn't and the employer knows they are underpaid but keep them at their same low salary, is that not stealing. That's why I work for myself. Companies are full of it. Make thousands to millions a year and their employees might see a 2 to 4% raise. Which does not even keep up with inflation or cost of living. It's hard to take pride in your company and job if you are treated like pee-ons.
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5 Posted by soarango on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:30PM EDT Report Abuse
As an IT manager for a small business, I have to say that there should be some sort of 'space' that employees are allowed to have in regards to their internet browsing privileges. As long as it does not interrupt with core business activities, I am fine with it. A place where I used to work we set policies that their 'personal' time and space should not exceed 10% of their overall requirements (time, performance, etc.). No one made a fuss about it and those that were mostly affected slowly learned the purpose of these policies.
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6 Posted by melindasaccount on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:15PM EDT Report Abuse
The implicit permission to be monitored on company-owned technology is probably part of the unwritten social contract we all make in order to be gainfully employed in these dire economic times. One thing that happened today does annoy me, though: our company network administrator no longer allows access to Yahoo 360, deeming it an adult/mature content site. That it may very well be - for others. I have no interest in either posting or viewing anything but the most G-rated material. So I understand the vigilance of corporate internet surveillance, but sometimes it can be unduly severe. It's the old story - a few clowns who can't delay gratification have fouled online access up for everyone else at our worksite.
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7 Posted by hughbpark on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:21PM EDT Report Abuse
at least if employees are surfing the net you know they can read. as long as they aren't just looking at porn.
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8 Posted by urnumber9 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:28PM EDT Report Abuse
UR a fool if U dont know what most males are doing online right now.its either watching porn or playing some stupid game. yahoo and NBC merger=AOL and Time. Greed is evil.
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9 Posted by hampot20854 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:15PM EDT Report Abuse
I understand that firms must be vigilant about efficiency or productivity and that they must protect themselves from liability as well. Having said that, the use of a computer must be viewed in context. Is the employee generally an asset, relative to peers? People have found creative ways to avoid work since employment began. Simply having the ability to monitor the behavior doesn't mean that it necessarily should be strictly enforced or that punitive measures are necessarily in order. Is spending all day in an unproductive meeting a better use of time? Not always.
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10 Posted by carterclaude on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:19PM EDT Report Abuse
Internet useage in the work place everybody will have differnt views about it. Each company usually have a policy about it. What I think about using the internet while at work is as long you do your job and not let the internet distrack you then it shouldn't cause too much of a problem of course the workplace will have rules and guidelines if they do allow you to surf online while you're working. On the other hand maybe the boss monitoring your online activives may be a good idea so that people won't abuse thier internet privileges and look on sites they can't look at work.
1 Posted by super_dave_1984 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:49PM EDT Report Abuse
The company I work for tracks internet usage tightly. They know who goes where and when. It is all monitored. But, they rarely make any fuss unless a pattern develops of employee slacking or malware or repeated attempts to go to restricted websites. Then they will get tough and take action. I can go to the server and see what websites have been hit at any time and by what user. Can't see what's on screen from there, but we do have the capability to remotely view any computer on the network without the user's knowledge. That isn't allowed, but it is possible.