Privacy

1. Privacy Ronald F. White, Ph.D. Professor of Philosophy College of Mount St. Joseph

2. Introduction • Individuals living in communities. • Business as a competitive enterprise. • Need for monitoring and enforcement of rules • Need to hire and fire employees based on information • Business and Government • Should government play a role in protecting (or not protecting) employee privacy?

3. Employee Privacy • Three Definitions • The right to be left alone • The right to have control over personal Information • A right not to have undocumented personal information known by others

4. Value of Privacy • Utilitarian Arguments • Costs and benefits of respecting employee privacy • Kantian Arguments • Treat persons with dignity • Treat persons as ends never as means. • Lockean Arguments • Personal Information as Private Property

5. Steps toward a Policy • The purpose for information gathering. • Is gathering the information worth the cost of gathering it? • The means used to gather information. • Does the employee know that certain information will be accessed? • Accuracy, completeness, and access. • Is the information gathered Complete, true, and who shall have access to that information.

6. Some Issues • Pre-Employment Screening • Internet Searches • Facebook, Twitter, etc • Monitoring computer use in the workplace. • Non-work-related usage • Social networking • Private E-Mail • Surveillance cameras in the workplace • Employee safety • Monitor employee behavior • Theft • Use of health related information • Health insurance • Testing • Drug Testing • Honesty Testing

7. Approaches • Stockholder Theory • Market-Based • Contractual • Stakeholder Theory • Duty-Based