By: Sonny Zulhuda
Introduction
The massive use of internet and other appliances of information and communications technologies (ICT) at the workplace has intensified productivity through intensive communications between employers and employees as well as between a company and external parties including customers, clients, regulators, etc. Most workplace has now installed Internet and email system by which the employees and employers build their networks and communications both internally and externally. Electronic mail, or e-mail, is a boon to office communications. All employees can be notified instantaneously of important office matters. Phone messages can be logged on the computer and sent via e-mail. A message for someone in a meeting can be e-mailed.
However, what most employees fail to realize with respect to e-mail is that:
- They are probably not the only person who has access to their e-mail, despite the password protection;
- Electronic mail, even if deleted from their personal databases, can be saved in numerous forms by the computer’s own internal backup systems, or by the person to whom the e-mail is being sent.
There is arising concern on employees’ email surveillance that has been widely practiced by employers. This practice, while seen important for maintaining ‘due diligence’ of a company, gives rise to questions of intrusion to privacy.
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