Question

You work for a large electronics distributor. Your job is to provide training and to be a troubleshooter and consultant for users of the company's local area network. In the past, your job has required you to spend a lot of time travelling from building to building to assist users. Now, however, you have a utility program called LANSCAPE that lets you monitor the activities of any user who is logged in. You can see exactly what is being displayed on the user's screen, and can even take over the session if you need to. Your boss tells you, in confidence, that she suspects one or more employees of dealing with illegal drugs on company premises. She has no proof but suspects that they are using the phone and maybe even the computer to make deals. She asks you to monitor the employees and to provide her with a log of all the computer activities of the suspected employees.

1. What are the ethical considerations involved?
2. What are the legal considerations with what you are being asked to do?
3. Your boss asks you to install LANSCAPE on the workstation in her office so she can randomly check on the suspects and gather evidence. What are the ethical considerations involved?
4. What are the legal considerations with installing the software on your boss’s computer?

Answer 1

1. It is not ethical to monitor personal activities of the employees but if something illegal is happening it needs to be uncovered.

2. It is against the law to evade someone's privacy, if one of the employee comes to know about this monitoring the employee can sue the Company.

3. It is not ethical to monitor someone's phone and workstation and she might be willing to check on every employee and not just those suspected, installing LANDSCAPE on her workstation can be a serious breach of confidentiality.

4. It could also be illegal to install such a software which can evade someone's confidentiality, and the company and individuals involved in installing the software can face legal issues.

Step-by-step explanation:

1. It is not ethical to monitor personal activities of the employees but if something illegal is happening it needs to be uncovered.

2. It is against the law to evade someone's privacy, if one of the employee comes to know about this monitoring the employee can sue the Company.

3. It is not ethical to monitor someone's phone and workstation and she might be willing to check on every employee and not just those suspected, installing LANDSCAPE on her workstation can be a serious breach of confidentiality.

4. It could also be illegal to install such a software which can evade someone's confidentiality, and the company and individuals involved in installing the software can face legal issues.