Ethics & Human Interface

Model Answer

Ethical Issues Arising from Workplace Surveillance

The use of surveillance technology in monitoring employee performance raises several ethical concerns:

1. Invasion of Privacy: Tools like location tracking and video surveillance can intrude into personal spaces, particularly for remote workers, violating privacy boundaries (Source: Content).
2. Impact on Creativity: Over-surveillance can stifle creativity and problem-solving skills, as employees may feel their every action is being observed (Source: Content).
3. Worker Autonomy: Excessive surveillance, especially in top-down management cultures, can lead to behavior modification, undermining employees’ autonomy and increasing control over personal actions (Source: Content).
4. Unequal Impact: Surveillance can disproportionately affect certain groups, reinforcing biases or creating new disparities, especially based on gender, race, or sexual orientation (Source: Content).

Balancing Privacy and Performance Tracking

To mitigate these ethical concerns while effectively tracking performance, companies can adopt the following strategies:

1. Transparent Policies: Clear guidelines about what data is collected and why can foster trust. For example, monitoring for security reasons versus personal message monitoring (Source: Content).
2. Data Minimization: Limit data collection to only what’s necessary for performance evaluation, such as task completion instead of keystroke tracking (Source: Content).
3. Employee Consent: Seek explicit consent from employees, ensuring they understand and agree to monitoring practices (Source: Content).
4. Use of Performance Metrics: Focus on output-based metrics (e.g., project completion) rather than intrusive activity tracking (Source: Content).

By implementing these strategies, companies can maintain a balance between respecting privacy and ensuring effective performance tracking.