Ethics in an Intranet Culture
Intranet Culture
Intranet
Network that companies use to share files, utilize
websites, and collaborate. Usually cannot be accessed
from the Internet.
Intranet Culture
The system of shared beliefs, values, customs, and
behaviours that the members of a company use to cope
with their world and with one another.
Internet/Intranet Realities
Good News
It is estimated that by the year 2002 more than 88 million employees in
U.S. alone will be connected to the Internet through their company Intranet.
This will allow employees to gather information and correspond with
clients more efficiently and effectively than ever before.
Bad News
The introduction of the Intranet to the company toolbox comes with many
dangers. These dangers pose a troublesome paradox for executives across
America. On one hand, companies have to much to gain from the Internet
to banish it from the workplaces. At the same time, there is far too much
to lose by granting employees free reign.
Facts
• 268 million corporate PC’s are connected to the World
Wide Web
• 60% of Internet activity includes visits to unproductive,
inappropriate, and potentially dangerous sites
• Most companies have no company rules on computer use
and misuse
Ethical Responsibilities
The Intranet is setup with a firewall to protect
the institution from “outside harm” but must
also protect itself from “harm from within”.
Ethical responsibility must be part of the
Intranet culture to help inform and provide
guidelines to “insiders”.
Problem Areas
• EMAIL
• WEB SURFING
• SOFTWARE
Email
You’ve Got Mail
Email is a tremendously powerful communications tool, used by
millions of people in thousands of positive ways. Unfortunately, such
a powerful tool has the potential to be used in other, less productive,
ways.
Can be used to breach security of an Intranet
- by disgruntled employees who can distribute company secrets through
email
- by accidents such as attaching important documents to emails
Total collaboration of emails
- add up to loss of work hours
- work-related activities suffer
- instant messaging breaks concentration
Email Statistics
- Men are the worst offenders for trying to kindle an
online office romance, with 27% admitting to using email
for “flirting in the office” compared with 13% of women
- Gossiping about colleagues online was the secondbiggest waste of working time by men
- Among women the biggest email abuse was “planning
social life with friends,’’ followed by contacting brothers
and sisters and gossiping about other staff
- 13% of men and seven percent of women admitted
using email at work to forward Internet sex links
- Other misuses of email included forwarding jokes to
colleagues and seeking new employment.
Email Abuse
Email can be “piggybacked”
with:
- Sexual Harassment
- Mail bombs
- Tasteless jokes
Knock Knock
Who's there !
Adder !
Adder who ?
Adder you get in here ?
- Viruses
- Porn
In a survey people were asked :
“How many emails should an employee be allowed to send
during a workday?”
Web Surfing
Harm in Surfing?
So what’s the harm in a little personal surfing every now
and then? Actually the costs and consequences associated
with non-related Internet use are staggering. They hit
corporations most commonly in three forms:
- productivity costs
- bandwidth loss
- legal liability
- security breaches
Surfing on the job
On any given day a survey reveals 18% of employees visit the Internet
10 or more times for nonwork-related activity
If not working, then what are they doing?
72%
40%
37%
34%
28%
12%
read the news
shop
search for another job
check stock reports
coordinate social events
visit adult sites
Software
Software Abuse
Downloading software from the company
- can be held liable under both civil and criminal law
- can seek to stop you from using its software immediately and can
seek monetary damages
- the copyright owner may then choose between actual damages, which
includes the amount it has lost because of your infringement as well as
any profits attributable to the infringement, and statutory damages,
which can be as much as $150,000for each program copied
- the government can criminally prosecute you for copyright
infringement, if convicted, you can be fined up to $250,000, or
sentenced to jail for up to five years, or both
“Calling All Viruses!”
Uploading personal software to the
company computer can present a wide
range of problems to a company
-
use up valuable disk space
bring lawsuits due to licensing
and most of all, introduce viruses!
Bandwidth Hogs
-
Nonwork-related surfing clogs digital pipelines
According to a survey by Dataquest, 20% of workers use Internet
connections more than three hours a week for personal matters.
Downloading music, shopping, or just browse the Web can impede
work-related activity of co-workers.
Workers sending or receiving personal emails with large attachments
Servers routinely crash on Valentine’s day and Christmas due to load
Spam, chain letters, “junk” mail compound problem
Enter Ethics
Setting the Stage for Ethics
Ethics policies are still evolving or even non-existent in most companies.
IAP’s (Internet Access Policy) or
AUP’s (Access Use Policy) are laying the groundwork for ethical
guidelines in dealing with the company Intranet and Internet.
As the number of employee connections to the Intranet increase, so does
the awareness that ethical policies are needed to combat abuse.
AUP
At a minimum, every company that provides Internet access for its
employees should have a detailed
Acceptable Use Policy (AUP)
in place. Similar to other company policies, the AUP should clearly
define
• where employees can and cannot go online
• when they can surf the Internet and use email for
personal reasons
• which types of online activity are strictly forbidden
• what consequences will result if the policy is violated
Why Does the Industry Care About Ethics?
• Link between ethics and customer/employee loyalty
• What kind of company do you want to work for or deal with?
• It takes years to build a good company reputation
• Each employee has the power to tarnish that reputation
• Any one employee can get the company into serious trouble
Why Does the Industry Care About Ethics?
• Companies can build a company culture of ethical business conduct
• Commitment to integrity must start at the top
• Employees watch to see if “management walks the walk”
• Employees need to see that ethical behavior is valued and rewarded
• Fines for civil or criminal violations
Tools That Help Us Make Good Ethical Decisions
• The code of ethics and business conduct
sets the standard
• Company ethics officers
promote a comprehensive and consistent ethics program
monitor performance of other employees
respond to helpline calls
facilitate training
• Helpline
toll-free confidential help
disciplinary actions
• Ethics awareness training
• Compliance training
employees need to know and understand laws, regulations, and policies
applicable to their job duties
• Communication
Benefits of Ethics Program to a Company
•
•
•
•
•
Service
Reduced misconduct
New business
Higher margins
Shareholder confidence
Costs to the Company
Lack of control or policy with regard to the Intranet can affect
the bottom line of a company
- company must expend dollars for software to combat and
survey their company Intranet
- resources must be allocated to extra staff and technology
personnel to handle abuse
- productivity loss in the workplace
What about the financial impact?
Cyber-slacking wreaks havoc on the bottom line.
Equation to figure out fully burdened cost(FBC) of an employee:
1. FBC = 2(mean hourly wage)
2. Then multiply FBC by Internet usage(in hours)
3. Finally multiply by # of employees with Internet access
Example :
mean =$16.54 per hour
1. FBC = ($16.54 * 2) = $33.08
2. $33.08 * 1.5(hours)
3. 82.7 * 500(Intranet employees) = $16,540 per day cost to the company
Result:
Corporate Networks Are Paying the Price. Wasting time online accounts for thirty to
forty percent of all lost productivity in the workplace.
Making a Case for Discipline
Nonwork-related Intranet use can cost companies dearly in the courtroom
- could lead to potentially embarrassing and expensive lawsuit
- threatens credibility of company
- company unity and trust is at risk
Ten Commandments for Computer Ethics
1. Thou shalt not use a computer to harm other people.
2. Thou shalt not interfere with other people's computer work.
3. Thou shalt not snoop around in other people's files.
4. Thou shalt not use a computer to steal.
5. Thou shalt not use a computer to bear false witness.
6. Thou shalt not use or copy software for which you have not paid.
7. Thou shalt not use other people's computer resources without authorization.
8. Thou shalt not appropriate other people's intellectual output.
9. Thou shalt think about the social consequences of the program you write.
10. Thou shalt use a computer in ways that show consideration and respect.
Laws
Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA)
This Act regulates the processing of employees' personal data by
employers.
The Data Protection Commissioner has issued a draft Code of
Practice in which she deals with monitoring of emails and internet
use by employers. This appears to impose stricter limitations on
employers' ability to monitor than the Regulations, but is likely to
change to be brought into line with them.
Obscene Publications Act 1959
This Act makes it a criminal offence to send material to another person
which is likely to ‘deprave or corrupt’ the recipient. There are tighter
provisions relating to the handling of child pornography, under the
Criminal Justice Act 1988 and the Protection of Children Act 1978.
Contract of Employment – Employee Rights
The contract of employment imposes an implied duty on
the employer to act in a manner that will not undermine its
duty of ‘trust and confidence’. If the employer is
unreasonable in its investigation of suspected internet and
email misuse, it could be in breach of this duty, which
could entitle the employee to resign and claim constructive
dismissal.
Contract of Employment – Employer Rights
Sex Discrimination Act 1975 and Race Relations Act 1976
These Acts outlaw sex and race-based discrimination. The
sending of an email by an employee (or even possibly
someone from outside the company) which has sexual or
racial content, may amount to an act of sexual or racial
harassment for which the employer could be liable, unless
it has taken steps to reduce the risk of such emails being
distributed.
The Telecommunications (Lawful Business Practice)
(Interception of Communications) Regulations 2000
These Regulations dilute the requirements of RIPA and allow certain
monitoring in the course of legitimate business practice. They allow
email (and telephone) monitoring without consent for, among others,
the following reasons:
-Quality control monitoring
-Combating crime
-Combating unauthorized use of the system (for instance,
investigating suspected misuse of email or internet)
-Determining whether the communication is business-related (this
allows an employer to inspect the inbox of an employee who is
absent from work, in order to check whether any business-related
emails have come in).
The End!