Beyond the Screen: workplace monitoring and the invisible eye

By ILO Planet Work

The move to cyberspace has also engendered new conditions and practices at work that are not always visible to the human eye.

The advent of the internet has enhanced the ability of organisations and enterprises to communicate at lightning speed. Workplace surveillance has emerged as a dynamic trend in global management practice, using such means as security software and video to monitor employee email, internet, telephone and other communications. This has sparked a global debate on privacy rights. This article examines the monitoring issue as it is raised in various ILO member countries.

(ILO World of Work, no 54, August 2005; pp31-3)