The Importance Of Privacy In the Workplace Essay 2022

Table of Contents
Introduction:...............................................................................................................................2
Privacy in Workplaces:..............................................................................................................2
Challenges:.................................................................................................................................3
Significance of Privacy:.............................................................................................................3
Lack of Privacy- Impacts on Employees:..............................................................................4
Excess of Privacy- Impacts on Employers:............................................................................6
Conclusion:................................................................................................................................7
References:.................................................................................................................................8

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Significance of Privacy in the Workplace:
Introduction:
Personal information privacy is a crucial problem in today's technology age, as information
may be swiftly taken, preserved, and shared (Areheart and Roberts, 2018). The significance
and emergence of privacy in the workplace has emerged as a regularly featured topic for the
legislation. Employees and employers both care about their privacy in the workplace (Cortini
and Fantinelli, 2018; Areheart and Roberts, 2018). Employees expect to have control over
their personal information and access to the company; on the contrary, employers expect
much information about their employees and a lot of access to their whereabouts (Najjar et
al., 2021).
This study critically evaluates the significance of the employees' privacy in modern
organizations. For untangling notions of privacy and distinguish the privacy context of the
work environment, this study is carried out by integrating viewpoints and bringing together
perspectives from various fields. This study advances workplace privacy through a critical
appreciation of the negative impacts of privacy in the workplace on the employees and
workplace environment.
Privacy in Workplaces:
With the organizations' digital disruption and technological transformation, traditional
frameworks have also altered the employee-employer relationship. The access of employees
to communication technologies has escalated the need of employers to monitor the activities
of their employees. However, this workplace monitoring results in significant privacy issues
for the employees; Holland et al. (2012) reported that the monitoring and surveillance of
employees directly impact their attitudes, leading to a lack of trust in the employers. Smith
and Tabak (2009) highlighted three justifications for monitoring employees; ensuring
employees' job performance, protecting the organizational assets, and liability risks. In this
regard, Fazekas (2003) asserted that employees are employed to attend corporate business;
therefore, they cannot have a "legitimate expectation of privacy."
Bhave et al. (2020) argued that privacy in the workplace could be categorized into
information privacy and work environment privacy. Information privacy refers to workers'
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(attitude of) control over the data they collect, store, utilize, disseminate, and disperse. Thus it
can be related to controlling information that might be shared with fellow workers in the
workplace or employers. On the contrary, work environment privacy refers to employees'
(attitudes of) control over sensory inputs (visual, spatial, auditory, and olfactory), i.e., it is
about real influence over the scope and character of workers' interpersonal contacts and
having access to their presence more widely (Mehta et al., 2021).
Besides, when workers are confronted with the violation of information boundaries, disputes
over who owns private information arise; thus, this adversely affects the psychological
thinking of the employees (Ebert et al., 2021; Bodie, 2021). Employee information is claimed
by organizations in the workplace, although employees may disagree with the organization's
claim to their privacy. As a result, border turbulence occurs when employers and workers
compete for control of confidential employee information. When adopting employee
monitoring in the workplace, privacy boundary turbulence arises
Challenges:
Rahim et al. (2017) evaluated that employers are becoming more aware of many
characteristics of their employees' bodies, including scar tissue on the lower abdomen,
genetic inclinations, fingerprints, and alcohol residues in their urine. However, Emery and
Solomonides (2021) argued that, in specific jobs, standard physical intervention such as
regular drug, medical testing, and body scans also lies in the privacy monitoring process.
Additionally, companies rely on biometric authentication and verification technologies to
ensure security, which involves parts of their employees' bodies. A wide range of new and
better technology has aided employers in gaining access to elements of their employees'
bodies, yet the law has often lagged. Employers may discover such private information
through searches of employees' possessions and monitoring workplaces and technological
work environments (Sadeghian et al., n.d; Henry, 2020).
Significance of Privacy:
Privacy in the workplace allows employees to keep their personal information private and do
business without being monitored electronically (Bhave et al., 2020). Many businesses have
increased their use of technology in the workplace, such as the internet and email. This may
cause privacy concerns. The employer might be investigated if workers have access to the
internet during working hours. Employers take this step because they are afraid of being sued
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