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Last update - 09:54 24/03/2008 Study: 'Big Brother' monitoring alive and well in Israeli workplace By Ruth Sinai, Haaretz Correspondent Tags: israel, monitoring  "There is no doubt about it, big brother is very much alive and well in employment bodies in Israel," says Professor Itzhak Harpaz of Haifa University, who heads the Center for the Study of Organizations and Human Resource Management, and serves as the chairman of the Industrial Relations Research Association of Israel. The findings presented by Harpaz are based on a study conducted among the subscribers of the biannual professional publication "Mashabe Enosh" (Human Resources), nearly all (96 percent) of which hold academic degrees. About 45 percent of the respondents are managers, and 20 percent are board members. Some 75 percent of respondents work for institutions that employ more than 100 persons. They represent about 370 jobs in a variety of fields. The largest group in the study comes from the high-tech sector (22 percent). Respondents were asked whether the organization they work for makes use of cameras for anti-theft or violence surveillance or supervises employee's use of computers, electronic mail, internet, landline and cellular telephones as well as satellite technologies and smart cards. They were also asked whether the employer customarily informs employees of the surveillance. The findings were compared to a similar study conducted recently by the American Management Association. Advertisement More than 53 percent of the Israeli respondents reported that the organization they work for makes use of video cameras, compared to just 32 percent in the U.S. In addition, the study found that just 39 percent of all employers inform employees of their use of video cameras in Israel, compared to 80 percent of the American employers. About 63 percent of the Israelis polled reported that their employers monitor internet use and operate blocking programs to prevent them from entering certain sites, compared to 70 percent of American employers. But whereas in Israel just 57 percent of employers inform workers that their internet use is monitored, the U.S. standard reflects more transparency ¬ 89 percent of the respondents reported that their employer had informed them of the fact. The study found that many Israeli employees are far less confident than their U.S. counterparts about the means employed to monitor their computer use. More than 55 percent of respondents said they were uncertain whether the organization they work for monitors their time and computer keystrokes. This compared to 64 percent of American respondents who said they know no such monitoring takes place in their place of work. The typical Israeli employer also makes use of high-tech to monitor employee whereabouts, a practice rarely used in the U.S. Nearly 45 percent of Israeli respondents reported that their employer uses GPS technology to monitor the whereabouts of company cars, and 23 percent said their employer also monitors the firm's cellular phones. According to Harpaz, the findings raise questions about the importance accorded to the right to privacy and an employee's ability to escape the watchful eye of his employer, who can, in principle, monitor his movements 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Related articles: New labor bill puts workers' rights in companies' hands Report: Employers increasingly invading workers' privacy Exit big brother - enter little citizen Bookmark to del.icio.us   Getting online, already A gov't official is planning the first Web site 'to connect all Jews around the world'. Naim to meet you French-Israeli folk singer Yael Naim isn't worried about becoming too commercial.   1.   What an F`d up society 02:32  |  POP 24/03/08   2.   #1 04:12  |  GPWS1 24/03/08   3.   NO Constitution 05:00  |  David 24/03/08   4.   nonsense from haaretz 05:54  |  Ran 24/03/08   5.   What`s interesting about this 06:04  |  Colin Wright 24/03/08   6.   Colin Wright - Spiritual grandfather 08:18  |  Michael Jacobs 24/03/08   7.   common sense 12:40  |  Leo 24/03/08   8.   Laws are needed to protect people´s privacy 14:08  |  AliciaYasmeen 24/03/08   9.   Laws are needed to protect people´s privacy 14:12  |  AliciaYasmeen 24/03/08

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