Dataveillance and Information Privacy Concerns

Abstract

Information privacy research historically focuses on exploring individuals' concerns in the transaction environment. However, the recent growth of technology-enabled workplace surveillance is raising many concerns over employees' privacy. Employee surveillance practices are becoming increasingly prevalent, ranging from monitoring internet and email activities to capturing employees' interactions with customers and employees' personal health and fitness data using wearable health devices. Individuals may understand that employers can monitor their activities, but may not the potential uses or the repercussions of such monitoring. Moreover, employees may not feel they have the ability to opt-out of this monitoring. This chapter explores the privacy and ethical issues surrounding emerging means of workplace surveillance. The chapter considers both employee and employer perspectives and poses many questions to consider when deciding when does legitimate monitoring become an invasion of employee privacy?