Mirsad Capric - Group C

Article – Companies Warned to Keep Tabs on Instant Messages

February 23, 2004

            The article that was given in the textbook alluded to e-mail and the use it may be in the court room as evidence. Employees of all kind send e-mails with private information and without regard; however, in the court room that information can become public and be detrimental to a company. At the end of the article the author warns that companies will one day not only have to worry about e-mails, but also instant messaging. The article I researched had to do with the final sentiments of the author. My article, Companies Warned to Keep Tabs on Instant Messages[1] by Robert Mullins, advises companies to not only watch their employers e-mails, but also be careful of what is put in instant messages.

Michael Gartenberg, research director at Juniper Media Metrix, believes that instant messages should be monitored as much e-mail. He says the same concerns for e-mail also should imply for instant messaging. Offensive language, behavior, etc. do not belong in the workplace, its e-mail, or instant messages. Privacy issues are not the only problem at hand; a security issue is also brought to our attention by Richard Stiennon, an analyst. Many of these free instant messaging services have security issues; for example, MSN messenger had users download a security patch after it was discovered that some hackers could run programs on their computer without the user’s knowledge. In order to protect the company’s interest, some precautionary measures have taken place. For instance, the company FaceTime Communications provides software that records instant messages for later viewing.

Some people, such as researcher Andrew Schulman, believe that monitoring instant messaging is going too far. He believes that the information of a company can leave in numerous ways, not just by instant messaging or e-mail. There are still the more conventional ways; such as a document or a memo. He also wonders what will be the next form of communication being monitored at the work place? Cameras in the bathroom? Recording devices by the water cooler? Perhaps employee’s privacy will rival an inmate at prison one day.