I didn't want to be misunderstood so let my say it another way. Of course you don't
HAVE to tell them, but in the long run your better off.
The intent of monitoring computer usage shouldn't just be catching the people
breaking the rules, it should be to prevent infractions in the first place. If you
suspect a single person of E-mailing company secrets then of course you shouldn't tell
them that you will be watching next week on wednesday from 3:00 to 3:45. But as far as
setting company policy all users should know that what they do on the computers is
monitored and recorded. This not only stops casual use of the computer systems but also
keeps employees "in the loop".
The company has the RIGHT to record and monitor computer usage secretly but that
power is very intimidating to the end user and shouldn't be thrown around. Your just
looking for trouble if one day you walk in to the accounting office and walk up to Jim
and ask him about his lover shelly and why he likes to read hotteens.com. Informing
employees in the first place will stop allot of your problems from even starting. It also
looks really good if after you do review of computer usage you can tell your boss that
there where no infractions.
SO it is your right to monitor but that doesn't mean you want to. The exception to
this is if you have reasonable expectations, like if Jim stays late every night and you
haven't seen an increases in his work output but you have seen an increases in bandwidth
usage.
Mike
Computer Investigator wrote:
> Mike you do not have to give notification to employees if you implement a user
> policy that states all user activities can be monitored, etc...
>
> Users have no right to privacy in most cases, but can build a case for privacy
> if its known within organization that computers are used for personal use, and
> no policy exisits.
>
> prep for chain of command, if your looking to catch an employee, don't use
> keytrap alone, use with video survallnce to place them at pc during occurance,
> note cmos time/date to make sure accurate when software or dongle installed.
> if check software note that in log. all setup and activity should be logged
> with who, date, time, location, etc.
>
> best regards,
> computer-investigators.com
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