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| More companies spy on employee
e-mail, survey says -------------------------------------------------- Nando Media, Associated Press |
|
| More companies spy on employee
e-mail, survey says -------------------------------------------------- Nando Media, Associated Press |
NEW YORK (April 14, 1999 4:43 p.m. EDT) - The number of companies
that snoop on their employees e-mail, computer files and phone
calls is rising, a new survey shows, part of a corporate backlash
against inflammatory and potentially incriminating exchanges.
The share of firms checking e-mail rose to 27 percent this year
from 20 percent in 1998 and 17 percent in 1997, said the American
Management Association survey released Wednesday.
Overall electronic monitoring of e-mail and other communications
rose to 45 percent from 35 percent in 1997, the AMA said. But an
average of 84 percent of companies that do monitoring tell their
employees of the practice. The financial industry, including
banking, brokerage and insurance firms, spied the most.
The AMA, a business trade group, polled its 1,000 members January
through March. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus
3.5 percent. A key reason for the increased monitoring is that
employees are concerned that offensive messages could be used as
evidence in court cases down the road, observers say.