BIT241 IT Ethics Report: Analysis of Email Monitoring Case Study

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of an IT ethics case study concerning the secret monitoring of employee emails during union negotiations. The case study involves an ICT technician, Joe, who is tasked with monitoring emails to gain an advantage in pay and condition negotiations. The report identifies the key ethical issues, including privacy violations and the potential misuse of information. It examines the stakeholders affected, such as employees, management, and union members, and discusses the potential consequences of such actions, including legal ramifications and damage to the company's reputation. The report explores the ethical obligations and legal constraints, emphasizing that monitoring emails without consent is unethical and potentially illegal. It concludes by recommending that email monitoring should cease, and ethical negotiation practices should be adopted to protect employee privacy and maintain a fair work environment. The report also suggests the importance of senior management's awareness of unethical activities to prevent legal issues and maintain trust within the organization.

Running head: IT ETHICS
IT ETHICS
Name of student
Name of university
Author’s note:

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Table of Contents
Introduction....................................................................................................................2
Discussion......................................................................................................................2
Conclusion......................................................................................................................5
Bibliography...................................................................................................................6

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Introduction
This report aims to provide the clear analysis of the ethical issues and the legal issues
connected to the case study. The case study has been briefly described and the major ethical
issues has been discovered and discussed. The various stakeholders who are directly affected
by the ethical act has been briefly described in this report. The various effects of this ethical
issues has been briefly in this described in this report along with the clear discussion of the
long term effect on the stakeholders. Lastly this report concludes with the clear conclusion
for the report.
Discussion
Joe works as the chief ICT technician. In the organisation where Joe is working, there
is some ongoing negotiation regarding the pay and the conditions are being held among the
management and Union. Due to the stalling of the negotiations, there is being the order the
monitoring of the emails of the negotiator group along with the reporting of the emails to the
senior management for understanding the conditions of the negotiation group. It is being
intended to use the information that has been gained from the monitoring of the emails for
finalising the negotiations. There is the ethical issue that it is not ethical to violate the privacy
of the humans and monitor the emails of any individual for gaining information. When this
issue was pointed out to the management of the company, the management claimed that all
the property on which the negotiation is taking place is the property of that organisation, and
it is not issue to track the emails and monitor the information that is placed in the emails of
the negotiators. The main stakeholders of this issue who could be directly harmed or
impacted are the employees, ICT technician, manager, and staff of the negotiating group, IT
department, the Union members, supervisor, and the customers. The main ideals that plays
the significant role in the decision whether to report this act to the senior management or not

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is that the violation of the privacy of any individual is not considered as the ethical act as
there might be information that are sensitive and it would lead to the severe damage to the
individual if the information is leaked. There might be the issue where the information that is
gained from the illegal procuring of the information might be used for damaging the
conditions of the business or worsen the situation of the individual whose information has
been obtained. The major criteria that is required to be considered is that the violation of the
privacy of the individuals could cause significant damage to the information that has been
maintained in the secured location. It violates the rights of the privacy of that individual and
it could mean significant legal issues for the individuals. The obligation is owed to negotiator
groups and the negotiation that is being done or whatever the result has been gained from the
negotiation is not manipulated or the data might not be manipulated. This obligation is owed
to the legal constitution where the right to privacy is significantly considered as the major
aspect of the lives of any individual. There are several consequences of the monitoring the
emails. The pay and the conditions negotiations might be manipulated with the data that has
been gained from the monitoring of the emails. There might be significance preference
provided to some of the employees and the other employees might not be provide with the
equal salary and it leads to the introduction of the discrimination among the employees. The
negotiating group might not be able to perform the accurate negotiation and the improvement
of the conditions might not be achieved by the employees and the management of the
organisation. as the emails has being monitored by the management of the company, there
might be the legal issues if in any situation, the group knows about the intrusion and then
reports to the legal bodies that would lead to the severe legal issues. The business of the
company could be severely affected by any kind of the legal case against them. This would
mean the significant loss of the customers and the management bodies of the company who
could be associated with the organisation. The main action that would harm the stakeholders

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are the breach of the privacy of the negotiation group and in any situation, this information
has been leaked to the common public, it would lead to the situation when no client would
agree to do business with them and the issues of trust would rise among the business and the
stakeholders that ultimately means that the revenue of the organisation is depleted and the
cost of the business could increase in such situation. The actions that would benefit the
stakeholder, which is the management of the organisation is that they would gain the benefit
of the negotiation and manipulate the negotiation in their favour. It could be considered that
the stakeholders would want the fair negotiation with the management and the union and gain
the positive result from the negotiation without any kind of legal or ethical issues connected
with the negotiation. The solution that would be most appropriate for all the stakeholders that
the email should not be monitored and the fair negotiation must be executed for allowing the
major benefit from the negotiation and the pay scale of the employees are increased that
would lead to the effective development for the employees. The monitoring of the email of
the negotiator group must not be done and it would respect and care for the right to privacy
for the individuals in the group that would eliminate the issue of any ethical issue. The
monitoring of the email by the monitoring authority could be considered as the ethical act
where the information is intended to gain regarding the malicious activities and the unethical
act that are conducted that could lead to the damage of the organisation. The Federal and the
state law does not provide the permission for allowing the monitoring of the email by anyone.
The confrontation to the negotiation group with the information that has been gained from the
monitored email but not be admissible and the negotiation might fail severely that means
there is significant loss for the management of the company. The leakage of the video of the
email being monitored could damage the reputation of the organisation and there might be the
significant loss of the trust for the organisation and the external clients of the organisation
who would now hesitate to share any information or even execute the business with the

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organisation. The best action that could be done is stopping of the monitoring of the emails of
the negotiator group and Joe could report this issue to the higher authority for making this
action stop before it is too late. It could prevent withdrawing of the negotiation by the Union
that could affect the organisation severely. The senior management is required to have the
knowledge about the various unethical acts that are being done in the organisation for
effective managing any kind of legal issues that might rise in the future. It is strongly
recommended that the monitoring must not be done and all the information regarding the acts
that are being done in the organisation must be conveyed to the senior management. The
senior management would have the effective knowledge about the acts and this issue must be
presented to the senior management with the inclusion of the proof of the act that would
make claim trustworthy.
Conclusion
Therefore, it could be concluded that monitoring the email of the negotiator group is
not an ethical task and if there are any issue in the future, then the organisation might face the
legal issues that could damage the organisation severely. There is the ethical issue that it is
not ethical to violate the privacy of the humans and monitor the emails of any individual for
gaining information. When this issue was pointed out to the management of the company, the
management claimed that all the property on which the negotiation is taking place is the
property of that organisation, and it is not issue to track the emails and monitor the
information that is placed in the emails of the negotiators. The main stakeholders of this issue
who could be directly harmed or impacted are the employees, ICT technician, manager, and
staff of the negotiating group, IT department, the Union members, supervisor, and the
customers. The obligation is owed to negotiator groups and the negotiation that is being done
or whatever the result has been gained from the negotiation is not manipulated or the data
might not be manipulated. This obligation is owed to the legal constitution where the right to

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privacy is significantly considered as the major aspect of the lives of any individual. The
Federal and the state law does not provide the permission for allowing the monitoring of the
email by anyone.
Bibliography
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