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February 21, 2000

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Invasion Of Privacy? E-Mail Monitoring Is On The Rise
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Illustration by Jeff Jackson

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The magic to getting employee support--or at least tolerance--of E-mail monitoring is to educate them about why it's necessary and provide carefully written E-mail usage policies. Written policies also help protect against potential legal problems.

At Navistar, the employee handbook provides guidelines for E-mail usage, and the company frequently distributes a newsletter reminding employees about policies in place. "It's real clear on what's acceptable and what's not," Purifoy says of the company's policy.

But what about the impact of E-mail policies on workers? Some observers say instituting them can lower morale and slow productivity, while others say most employees concede that some rules and regulations have to be in place.

Alex Fowler, a spokesman for the nonprofit advocacy group Electronic Frontier Foundation, says employers who are aboveboard about new policies can bypass negative reactions. The foundation was formed to promote and protect free expression on the Internet.

"The two key issues are transparency and openness," Fowler says. He says company managers should fully explain the details of their policies and the thinking behind them. "When companies are open and honest with their workers, they have a high degree of acceptance of their policies," Fowler says.

Fowler says many companies he works with in the San Francisco Bay area have instituted "acceptable-use policies" for E-mail, just like they have for use of company telephones, faxes, and copy machines. "It's not the intention of most companies to put up barriers to the private use of E-mail," Fowler says. If managers expect employees to work hard and stay late on occasion, then they have to allow some use of E-mail for sending private messages related to personal meetings and errands. "I think this is only fair," he says.

In a poll of 1,139 members of the American Management Association in December, 67% said they had written policies in place regarding use of company E-mail, and 11% said they planned to institute policies soon.

However, some employees are finding ways to bypass E-mail policies and monitoring. Disgruntled's Levine says Web E-mail is becoming popular among workers who want to send private E-mail but don't want their bosses spying on their missives.

Employees may use any number of free E-mail providers, including Hotmail and services offered by AltaVista, Excite, and Yahoo. Also, a number of online startups have launched encrypted E-mail services for anyone who thinks he or she needs extra security from prying eyes.

ZipLip.com Inc. says it offers free services for individuals via its site using 128-bit encryption technology, and it electronically "shreds" messages within 24 hours. HushMail.com offers a similar service. Other companies, including Anonymizer.com, Junkbusters, and Zero-Knowledge Systems, charge a nominal fee for their encrypted E-mail services.

However, employees who use these services could still be in violation of company policies, as some companies' guidelines say Internet use should be work-related.

Kon Leong, president and CEO of ZipLip.com, says conflicts between employers and employees over E-mail will always be an issue.

He says employers have a lot to worry about regarding E-mail content, given what happened in the recent Microsoft antitrust trial, when E-mails thought to be private were dredged up in court and used against the software company.

"Employers feel the need for some type of protection," just as employees do, says Leong. And that's why interest in encrypted E-mail services is growing, he says. "E-mails are egregious and can hurt you," says Leong.

When it comes to E-mail monitoring, companies and their IT managers have a lot to consider. The law is in their favor, should they want to use it. But whether monitoring is something they should use will likely be a decision for each company to make.

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