Online Monitoring: A Threat to Employee Privacy in the Wired Workplace: An Annotated Bibliography Adams, Scott. Dilbert and the Way of the Weasel. New York: Harper, 2002. Print. Adams’s “Dilbert” cartoons are known for satirizing everyday workplace issues. The cartoon on page 106 illustrates how rampant Internet use in the workplace has become and suggests that both employers and employees are well aware of the practice. The cartoon points out the difficulty employers face in trying to restrict employee Internet use.
MLA Annotated Bibliography (Orlov)
Anna Orlov
Professor Willis
English 101
3 March XXXX
Online Monitoring: A Threat to Employee
Privacy in the Wired Workplace:
An Annotated Bibliography
Adams, Scott. Dilbert and the Way of the Weasel. New York: Harper,
2002. Print.
Adams’s “Dilbert” cartoons are known for satirizing
everyday workplace issues. The cartoon on page 106 illustrates
how rampant Internet use in the workplace has become
and suggests that both employers and employees are well
aware of the practice. The cartoon points out the difficulty
employers face in trying to restrict employee Internet use.
American Management Association and ePolicy Institute. “2005
Electronic Monitoring and Surveillance Survey.” American
Management Association. Amer. Management Assn., 2005.
Web. 15 Feb. 2006.
According to the survey of workplace Internet use
summarized in this article, employers are most concerned
about employees visiting inappropriate Web sites. However,
employers’ monitoring of employees extends beyond blocking
certain Web sites. Many employers who participated in the
study also track individual keystrokes and review e-mails. The
study suggests that the majority of employers who monitor
Internet use are telling their employees that they are being
Orlov 1
Marginal annotations indicate MLA-style formatting and effective writing.
In MLA style, each entry begins at the left margin; subsequent lines indent 1⁄2”.
The annotation begins on a new line and is indented 1⁄2”.
Source: Diana Hacker (Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2007). This paper has been updated to follow the style guidelines in the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 7th ed. (2009).
Source: Diana Hacker (Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2007).
monitored. These findings seem to contradict many of my
other sources, which claim that employers are not doing
enough to explain Internet monitoring to their employees.
“Automatically Record Everything They Do Online! Spector Pro 5.0
FAQ’s.” Netbus.org. Netbus.org, n.d. Web. 17 Feb. 2006.
Spector Pro is a type of Internet surveillance program.
This Web page, sponsored by the manufacturer of the product,
explains the functionality of the software and describes its
features. It can be installed on a variety of computers and
can be installed in “Stealth” mode so that the user cannot
detect the software on his or her computer. The program can
also monitor all computer use ranging from Word documents
to Web sites. This source supports my other sources by
illustrating the ease with which this kind of software can be
installed as well as the extensive amount of information it
can gather for employers.
Flynn, Nancy. “Internet Policies.” ePolicy Institute. ePolicy Inst.,
n.d. Web. 15 Feb. 2006.
This excerpt from Flynn’s The ePolicy Handbook offers
statistics on employee Internet use and five suggestions for
minimizing it. Flynn claims that the majority of employees in
the United States are using company time to surf the Internet
and that companies are suffering huge financial losses as a
result. Her suggestions for minimizing personal Internet use
include establishing a company Internet policy and installing
Orlov 2
Orlov interprets the source’s findings in relation to other sources in the bibliography.
Annotations are usually three to seven sentences long.
Double-spacing is used throughout, with no extra space between entries and no extra space between entries and their annota- tions.
monitoring software. This is consistent with the suggestions
of many other sources.
Source: Diana Hacker (Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2007).
Frauenheim, Ed. “Stop Reading This Headline and Get Back to
Work.” CNET News.com. CNET Networks, 11 July 2005. Web.
17 Feb. 2006.
The author examines the results of a study of ten
thousand employees conducted by America Online and
Salary.com, which found that the Internet was the most
popular means of wasting time at work. Frauenheim notes
that the extra time spent surfing the Internet is costing
companies an estimated $759 billion a year but also quotes
the senior vice president at Salary.com and a director at
America Online, who argue that employee Internet use
actually increases productivity and creativity in the
workplace. Frauenheim suggests that the increase in personal
Internet use at work might result from a longer average
workday and that use of the Internet has made employees
more efficient, giving them more free time to waste.
Gonsalves, Chris. “Wasting Away on the Web.” eWeek.com. Ziff
Davis Enterprise Holdings, 8 Aug. 2005. Web. 16 Feb. 2006.
In this editorial, Gonsalves considers the implications of
several surveys, including one in which 61% of respondents
said that their companies had the right to spy on them. The
author agrees with this majority, claiming that it’s fine if his
company chooses to monitor him as long as the company
Orlov 3
discloses its monitoring practices. He adds that he would
prefer not to know the extent of the monitoring. This article,
though not entirely objective, offers an employee’s
perspective on Internet surveillance in the workplace. It also
Summary is followed by a balanced evaluation of the source.
Source: Diana Hacker (Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2007).
contradicts some of my other sources, which claim that
employees want to know and should know all the details of
their company’s monitoring procedures.
Kesan, Jay P. “Cyber-Working or Cyber-Shirking? A First Principles
Examination of Electronic Privacy in the Workplace.” Florida
Law Review 54.2 (2002): 289-332. Print.
This extensive, balanced article examines the legal
issues involved in Internet monitoring and employee privacy.
Kesan establishes that US written law and common law do not
guarantee a right to electronic privacy in the workplace. He
suggests that Internet policies should be addressed through
a “market-based” contractual approach that would benefit
both employers and employees. Kesan examines employee
concerns, such as a working parent’s desire to check on his or
her children while at work, and employer concerns, such as
legal liability for inappropriate employee Internet use. He
concludes that a company should develop an Internet policy,
make that policy known to all employees, and then monitor
employees to ensure that the policy is being followed.
Lane, Frederick S., III. The Naked Employee: How Technology
Is Compromising Workplace Privacy. New York: Amer.
Management Assn., 2003. Print.
Lane’s book discusses the lack of employee privacy
Orlov 4
in the modern workplace. The author acknowledges that
employers have several reasons to be concerned about employee
Internet use, such as theft, a decrease in productivity, and
workplace lawsuits. At the same time, however, he questions
Source: Diana Hacker (Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2007).
where employers will draw the line as technology becomes
better and better at tracking an employee’s every move.
This book is accessible and draws from a variety of sources;
it confirms the information provided by my other sources.
Tam, Pui-Wing, et al. “Snooping E-Mail by Software Is Now a
Workplace Norm.” Wall Street Journal 9 Mar. 2005: B1+. Print.
The authors point out that in every state except
Connecticut and Delaware, companies can legally monitor
employee e-mail without notifying employees and can also use
e-mails as evidence in lawsuits against employees. According
to the article, only 27% of companies monitor employee-to-
employee e-mails, although these e-mails are potentially the
most incriminating, since employees are less likely to censor
themselves with other employees. The article also explores
the means by which companies now monitor employee e-mail,
such as software that searches not only for inappropriate
words but also for words specific to the industry and even
the company. Although the article is narrowly focused, it
offers a good overview of current practices regarding e-mail
monitoring in the workplace.
Tynan, Daniel. “Your Boss Is Watching.” PC World. PC World
Communications, 6 Oct. 2004. Web. 17 Sept. 2006.
Orlov 5
This conversational article presents ten myths about
employee Internet and computer monitoring and reveals how
wrong they are. Although several of the “myths” are discussed
more extensively in my other sources, Tynan presents some
new information. For example, he states that some employers
Source: Diana Hacker (Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2007).
monitor employee Webmail accounts in addition to company
e-mail accounts. Perhaps most important, the article gives a
sense of how unaware most employees are about the current
capabilities of employee Internet monitoring and about their
own lack of legal protection from employers who monitor
them.
Verespej, Michael A. “Inappropriate Internet Surfing.” Industry
Week. Penton Media, 7 Feb. 2000. Web. 16 Feb. 2006.
Unlike most of my other sources, this article is aimed
at employers and suggests that they need to do more to
establish Internet policies and monitor employees. Verespej
warns that if employers do not establish Internet policies,
they leave themselves vulnerable to expensive and
damaging lawsuits, such as suits based on inappropriate or
discriminatory e-mails distributed in the workplace. He offers
several examples to back up his claim that employers are
more at risk than employees from lawsuits. This seems to
contradict the information in my other sources, which present
the risks mostly in terms of employees’ privacy.
Orlov 6
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