Where Will It End?

I recently had an internship this summer in which I was a Mechanical Engineering intern, and therefore was constantly surrounded by technology. It was during this time in which I experienced some of what is discussed in the Baase reading. It is true that computers have made it more probable for a new type of monitoring in the workplace, but this monitoring is not always good. The first day at my new job, I had a meeting with another employee where company policies and rules were explained. It was here in which I was told that any e-mail that was sent, received, or even opened on a work computer was property of the company. They therefore had the right to view the e-mail, and do what they pleased with it. I was also informed that any web sites or anything done on the internet, could be monitored by them as well. Being new to the working world, this shocked me that they were able to legally do this.

I know that the argument can be made that it shouldn’t be a problem because you shouldn’t be doing anything but work related stuff on your computer anyway. Although this is an ideal argument, I do not think that it is true amongst common people in their everyday place of work. There are plenty of people that during work check their e-mail account that is not directly distributed by the company, visit non work related web sites, and even send non work related e-mails. If you want to browse the internet or send an e-mail during your lunch break, what gives your company the right to read that e-mail when it has nothing to do with them? Over the course of the summer, I worked hard, and finished all of my projects in a timely manner. If this is the case for a majority of employees, than why is monitoring to this extent necessary? I feel that the implementation of a more strict monitoring system need only be instated if there are problems amongst specific employees. Why should the hard workers be punished for the laziness of others? Although I had no problems that came from this strict policy, it is just the idea of being monitored that seemed to bother me. It seems as though with the advancement of technology, our money hungry capitalist economy has taken it too far. Before we know it, we won't be able to go to the bathroom without someone monitoring our every move.