When Ethics and IT Collide

jcatcw writes "IT workers have access to confidential data, and they can see what other employees are doing on their computers or the networks. This can put a good worker in a bad predicament. Bryan, the IT director for the U.S. division of German company, discovered an employee using a company computer to view pornography of Asian women and of children. He reported it but the company ignored it. Subsequently the employee was promoted and moved to China to run a manufacturing plant. That was six years ago but Bryan still regrets not going to the FBI. Other IT workers admit using their admin passwords to snoop through company systems. In a Ponemon Institute poll of more than 16,000 U.S. IT practitioners, 62% said they had accessed another person's computer without permission, 50% read confidential or sensitive information without a legitimate reason, and 42% said they had knowingly violated their company's privacy, security or IT policies. But in the absence of a professional code of ethics, companies struggle to keep corporate policies up to date."

Comments

It's simple

[ShieldW0lf]

It's simple.

All those secrets and all that confidentiality is contrary to ethics. It's an attempt to keep your enemy from making intelligent decisions so you can destroy his capacity to act effectually and take what is his.

The capitalist economic system, with all its little trappings, is about war. That's why Sun Tzus book is one of the top selling books for executives.

It's not ethical to make war on your neighbours. Thus, there are no ethical guidelines for it.

Eventually you become numb. The young call it selling out, the numb call it growing up.

If you want to be ethical, find a way to not participate, and encourage people to live the way you found. If you want to be in business, you better lose the thin skin.

Re:Ethics?

[Apoorv]

How are you gentlemen? All your privacy is belong to me. You are on way to moral destruction.

Re:Not entirely ethics

[wizardforce]

I don't see why it's so hard to understand that from the perspective of the company, they're paying you to do work, nothing else, and certainly not to look at porn.

If the people you hire dont get any work done you already know this without having to snoop through their browsing habits. If they don't work you fire their lazy ass; you don't snoop on their e-mails. it's none of your fucking business what websites they visit or who, what, why and when they e-mailed someone.

Re:Not entirely ethics

[mcpkaaos]

What is wrong with you? Choice and expectation are not mutually exclusive. You misunderstood what I said...

does not then somehow force your company
nothing that you choose to do - however beneficial for the company - forces them to do any such thing
 
...and then put words into my mouth. I neither said nor implied that I or my company are "forced" to do anything.

So yeah, I have to agree with the GPP when he said, "Your excuse sucks."

You sound like an ass. Please, troll someone else.