Κομπάστε Πού είναι η μυστικότητά μας!!!
Τώρα καθένας που ακολουθεί τα άρθρα μου ξέρει ότι δεν παίρνω πολύ εύκολα. Στην πραγματικότητα, δεν μπορώ να θυμηθώ την τελευταία φορά που έγραψα Rant.
Αλλά αυτό με έχει βράσει πραγματικά στον ατμό επάνω έτσι σκέφτηκα ότι θα έγραφα για το.
Τώρα για εκείνους που δεν ξέρουν, η Αυστραλία είναι ελεύθερη χώρα. (Όπως ελεύθερος, εάν όχι πιό έτσι από U.S ή τον Καναδά). Η νέα αυστραλιανή κυβέρνηση έχει αποφασίσει να εισαγάγει τη νέα νομοθεσία για να δώσει στους εργοδότες το δικαίωμα να ελέγξει οποιων δήποτε ή όλα τα ηλεκτρονικά ταχυδρομεία που στέλνονται ή που παραλαμβάνονται από τους υπαλλήλους τους στο ηλεκτρονικό ταχυδρομείο εργασίας εξετάζουν χωρίς γνώση σας. Η δικαιολογία, cyber-τρομοκρατία… Τώρα δεν έχω κανένα πρόβλημα με όλες τις βελτιώσεις ασφάλειας παγκοσμίως δεδομένου ότι το 9/11 αλλά αυτό είναι τα μάτια μου είναι μήπως πάει πολύ μακριά το πράγμα. Αυτό που συνέβη στη μυστικότητα;;; Αυτό που συνέβη στα αστικά δικαιώματα;;; Αυτό που συνέβη στην ελευθερία της ομιλίας;;;
Όχι άλλος δεν είναι εμείς που πηγαίνουμε να είναι σε θέση να καλέσουν τον προϊστάμενο `wanker» στα εσωτερικά ηλεκτρονικά ταχυδρομεία. (Εάν δεν ξέρετε ποιο `wanker» σημαίνει χτυπημένος αυτήν την σύνδεση http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wanker. Και ναι, η εικόνα είναι ανωτέρω ενός νέου Paul Hogan στο χαρακτήρα ως ένα από τα personas του, Leo Wanker). Τώρα, οι περισσότεροι από μας είναι ένοχοι του ρητού μιας κακής λέξης ή δύο για τον προϊστάμενο στους λόρδους στον εργασιακό χώρο. Μερικές από αυτήν την συνομιλία ανατρέπουν συνήθως στα ηλεκτρονικά ταχυδρομεία. Τώρα, θα στέλνατε εκείνο το ίδιο ηλεκτρονικό ταχυδρομείο εάν υπεάρξε μια πιθανότητα η κύρια παρεμπόδιση δυνάμεων σας αυτό; Πιθανώς όχι…
Μην με πάρτε λανθασμένο, μερικοί χώροι εργασίας πρέπει να ελέγξουν τα ηλεκτρονικά ταχυδρομεία για λόγους ασφάλειας. (Η επιβολή νόμου, τα όργανα ασφάλειας και οι στρατιωτικές εγκαταστάσεις είναι ακριβώς ζεύγος που έρχονται να απασχολήσουν). Αλλά στην τυποποιημένη εταιρία νόμου αποθεμάτων ή την επιχείρηση λογιστικής σας θεωρώ ότι οι προϊστάμενοι τύπων τύραννων πρόκειται να εκμεταλλευτούν αυτήν την νέα δύναμη.
Ένα παράδειγμα θα ήταν
(Πριν από το νέο νόμο)
» Γεια Tony, ο προϊστάμενος με έχει οδηγήσει πραγματικά στην περασμένη εβδομάδα. Εάν ο νόθος θα άρχιζε να λειτουργεί στο πρόγραμμα προσιτό περισσότερο από το αιματηρό γκολφ του handycap έπειτα η ζωή θα ήταν ένας σωρός ευκολότερος…
Πάρτε CareFred»
(Μετά από το νέο νόμο)
» Αξιότιμε Κύριε Anthony J Wright,
Θλιβερός για την μη απάντηση στα εσωτερικά ηλεκτρονικά ταχυδρομεία σας για την περασμένη εβδομάδα ή έτσι. Διοργανώνω διάφορες συνεδριάσεις αυτό το πρωί αλλά είμαι συνολικά πάνω από την κατάσταση.
Επ'ευκαιρία το άκουσα γύρω από το γραφείο ότι ο κ. (όνομα προϊσταμένων ενθέτων εδώ) είναι φανταστικός παίκτης γκολφ και θα μπορούσε να κρατήσει δικοί δικοί του με συμπαθεί του Tiger Woods.
Εν πάση περιπτώσει, εργασία που κάνει…
Με εκτίμηση,
Ο κ. Frederick Wrong.»
Ok, I will get off my soapbox now and open up the floor. Do you agree with this type of security upgrade or not? (And is there any such legislation and where else?)(Or am I just way out of line and should just submit to loosing another part of my privacy?) Comment away…
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April 14th, 2008 06:39
As far as I know, this practice has been going on for quite some time now in the US. Seems to me that it has been determined in US Court that employers, who own the email system, have a legal right to check out any email that goes through their system. I’m not agreeing with this myself, but I prefer web mail (Google, Yahoo, etc.) to send personal messages to my family, and speak face to face when possible with my coworkers. Unfortunately, web mail at work seems to act up more than at home, leading me to believe something or someone is messing with that too.
April 14th, 2008 06:40
Well Greg,
Corporate email monitoring has is pretty much the standard here in the States, however, I think “security” has little to do with it. It is par for course that most companies monitor email especially after the Enron / Arther Anderson fiasco from a few years ago.
Maybe the difference here is that your are saying this is happening “without the employees knowledge”. Most corporate email policies here in America clearly state that corporate email may be monitored, but, once again, this has little to do with security.
April 14th, 2008 06:51
Sorry about the formatting of the post but having a few problems with Safari talking to Wordpress..
April 14th, 2008 07:15
I’ll add that in the US personal blogs verbally insulting a persons employers, to my knowledge, have been the reason that at least one company has fired its employee, once that company found out who wrote the blog. This was not even on a company server. It wouldn’t surprise me if this has happened several times in the resent past.
April 14th, 2008 07:58
The current administration in the United States has set civil liberties back 50 years, all in the name of fighting terrorism. It is people like you and our fearless librarians in this country that question such policies and fight endlessly to preserve true freedom. Keep calling in question such policies, you are doing the right thing, and everyones freedoms will be preserved.
Robert
April 14th, 2008 08:03
It’s a non-event. Read:
http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=521210&cid=23060106
Whole thing has been hyped by the media and dumb journalists to be something it’s not.
Case closed
April 14th, 2008 09:07
[...] Originally Posted by Gregmyers I actually posted this on BerryReview before I posted here. I am getting some interesting comments back from the US where this has been the norm for some time… Here is a link for everyone to this article on BerryReview: Rant ; Where’s our privacy !!! | BerryReview [...]
April 14th, 2008 09:08
Great tip, Neil!
.
This issue has many facets. Here in Brazil, where terrorism is never an issue (yet), the prevailing argument is that if the company owns the building, the network, the bandwidth, the computer and your paid working hours, your boss has every right to check up on whatever you’re up to with the company’s resources I just mentioned. I think that makes a lot of sense. You should always fight for your rights, but you had better also put yourself in your boss’ shoes for a while if you really want to have a clear view of the issue.
.
But there are other issues, like information leak/stealing. Many computers have disabled and forbidden the use of USB ports and thumb drives. They are afraid of what an employee can bring or take home in one of those things. I have a friend who works in a law firm where the IT staff will bend over backwards to prevent any kind of external mail access at all including Web mail, although access to most WWW sites is allowed. They probably don’t want people sending or receiving anything unless it goes through the company’s corporate mail which is monitored, of course. She used to be required to use a dedicated machine in a separate room to access her personal mail. Now that is forbidden too. She has been seriously considering buying a Blackberry just so she can access her personal Web mail! Which brings an interesting question: how fair is it to completely cut your employees’ access to the external world as if they didn’t have a private life? Similarly, many companies don’t even allow workers to have cell phones with cameras because they could arguably photograph information and take it outside.
.
You can’t take sides on that kind of issue easily. I completely agree that the boss has the right to take precautions, but I also think that these measures are often too harsh, unfair and ineffective. I bet I could smuggle information out of any of these ultra secure offices if I worked in one of them and IF I really wanted to do it. I bet that happens a lot. But then again, that doesn’t mean the companies should just let employees do whatever the hell they want. It’s a tough issue.
.
The only thing I really can’t agree with is the bullshit factor. Terrorism? Come on. Just say “it’s my damn company and my damn computers” and we’ll understand. There is no need to insult our intelligence.
April 14th, 2008 09:11
Correction: “Many COMPANIES have disabled and forbidden the use of USB ports and thumb drives.”
April 14th, 2008 10:27
Company email monitoring has, as far as I know, always been in place here in Canada, and in many other places around the world. Using corporate email accounts does not entitle you to any privacy, as IT departments have to make sure it’s been used for professional purposes.
Granted, if I start complaining about the boss to a co-worker, I would hope the email would not be held against me, but corporate emails are meant for professional reasons, not to rant and rave and sign up for the latest porn site.
April 14th, 2008 10:38
Don’t know about Australia, but in the U.S., corporations have a direct responsibility for what goes through their email system. For instance, offensive spam can be, and has been, grounds for lawsuits. As another example, a company “allowing” internal offensive emails can be held responsible for them. The U.S.’s “Gimme, Gimme By Litigation” attitude has made this mandatory. It’s got zip to do with Freedom Of Anything, Civil Liberties, or any other buzzwords that people like to chant. According to U.S. law, a corporation is directoly responsible for the content of its email- therefore said company has the right and the responsibility to police it.
Don’t like it? Too bad. That’s what frivolous lawsuits get you.
In Australia, I have no idea. I know nothing of the condition of litigation there, but if it’s as bad as it is here, you’ll just have to learn to live with it.
April 14th, 2008 15:55
I guess the defining point is that whatever is stored or sent through your company’s email system is considered ‘property’ of the company. I could be wrong but there are some employment/nondisclosure agreements that sometimes state it as such. And I can see how “intellectual property” and “stored on physical company computers” can be broad-brushed to constrain limits of your privacy while in the office.
If you were to ask me if a company snooping on its employee’s email that is stored on company-owned servers is considered a violation of privacy, I’m not sure I would be inclined to say “yes.” That’s because I know that my privacy and right to privacy are a lot different in the office than my privacy and right to privacy when it comes to my home. I certainly understand how far my privacy goes when it comes to my employer versus when it comes to my bedroom.
Conversely, I would scream bloody murder if my ISP were to read my email but if my employer were to do the same, I wouldn’t be surprised nor would I be offended. The guideline is that while working at a company, you’re about as much in the public because you are a representative of your firm than in private.
April 16th, 2008 08:48
Thankyou all so much for your feedback. I will keep you updated as the political progress continues… but it looks like it might be a done thing…
April 17th, 2008 08:16
Thing is - if you call you’re boss a wanker on internal email you’re just asking for someone to forward it to his internal email - which will, of course, be linked to his corporate blackberry.
If you don’t like your boss then in Australia we generally do one of three things:
1)Tell him
2)Get a new job
3)Chuck a lot of sickies
You guess which is more common
April 17th, 2008 11:26
A question for a legal mind out there on this subject.
Say, for example I use my own private email account for work purposes (which I do).Whether it be a free account (ie Yahoo) or paid (ie .Mac). All of the hardware (ei BlackBerry and MacBook) belongs to me but the wireless connection is paid by the boss. If I was to send something derogatory about the boss over that account to a work mate can this be used in a legal case for dismissal ? (This is all theory and NOT something I have done…or will do. But would be interested to find out where one stands in this situation)
Thanks for any help…
Kindest Regards
Greg Myers
April 17th, 2008 11:45
I say use your Blackberry for that, and stay away from India!
April 23rd, 2008 13:29
A company email system belongs to the company, not the employee. I believe that has been legally established by lawsuits too. And like was said, if you’re going to say something STOOPID in company email, IMHO you deserve the consequences.