I know some readers are likely to have strong opinions regarding the ethical implications of monitoring e-mail and web access within organizations. Which ever side of the question you come down on, however, the reality is that filtering and monitoring technology is here, and in all probability, is here to stay. The exact figure eludes me, but I think something like sixty percent of US employees with Internet access have their e-mail or web access monitored by their employer.
I wonder how many people, thought, are aware of just how far the technology is going and what's around the corner? For example, in the company I work for, we've built technology that will quietly sit in the background and read the contents of your PC's hard-drive, classifying everything it finds on there. You got private documents stored on your work computer? Well, they ain't private any more bub. The fact is, even with the current state of the art of file surveillance (yes, that's what it's called,) your employer can remotely sift through every document on your PC and make sure you don't have anything on there you're not supposed to. Thinking of updating your resume? Better do it at home. Want to write a letter to a friend? I wouldn't bother putting it on your work system unless you like the idea of your boss reading it. Now, is it likely that your boss, or HR department, or that guy in IT who hates you because you don't like Jar-Jar, is actually going to have time to sit down and read your correspondence, or scan your drive for games? No. But that's the point. The network will do it for them. And when it's found anything, *anything*, that it thinks will be of interest, it'll send them a copy and let them know.
Think that's scary? Try this on for size. How about a system that logs every single document you open. It traps when you opened it, how long you had it open for and even, if necessary, what you did while you had it open. Combine that with the above technology and the fact is that you literally have the entire company watching over your should every single second of the work-day.
Is this a good thing? Well, I guess that depends on who you are and whom you work for. The ethics of this kind of monitoring are debatable, and are, indeed, hotly debated. What I find far more worrisome, however, is the intrusive nature of monitoring technology in my home. At the office, I have no reasonable expectation of privacy when I'm working with a computer. When I'm at home, however, it's another story.
One of the dominant high-speed ISPs here in Houston is an organization owned by a major entertainment and news conglomerate. (Can you guess who that might be?) They offer an 'enhanced' service with a streaming media player designed to give you the very best in on-line entertainment. What they don't say, and what you don't find out unless you read the small print of their license agreement, is that when you download it, you also give them the right to (a) use a portion of your hard-drive to store advertisements, and (b) the right to serve those ads to other subscribers on the 'net, directly from your PC. I mean, it's a great scheme. You want the media player? Fine. Just act as a local ad server and pony up some bandwidth into the bargain. Even as software professionals, how many people really *read* the license agreement, especially on free-ware?
Take this one step further and combine with the above surveillance technology. Take a deep breath and imagine how much on-line privacy you've got left. Yeah. Big, fat zero. Oh, and if you think the courts are going to protect you, think again. The courts recently forced one of those neat 'record the TV to a drive and watch it later' companies to divulge everything they knew about their customers viewing habits, because that information belong to the TV networks too.
I guess we all know the Internet is public, and unsecured. The frightening thing is that inherent lack of privacy, enforced by judicial rulings, touches and taints everything the Internet impinges upon. How about a neat system that lets you monitor your home security over the web? Or something that lets you turn on your cooker remotely? Or check in on the kids at school? If that information is of interest to you, it's of interest to someone who wants to sell you something and that means it's going to get bought, sold and traded. If you want a system that lets you check on the contents of your fridge from the office, you better be sure you don't mind the supermarket chains checking in too. Oh, and that's just the people who want to use this information *legally*. One of the hot tickets for home break-ins these days are monitored home security systems. Next time you agree to have an outside organization screen your home for break-in activity consider this; What does it mean when you don't open a door or turn your alarm off all day over a long weekend? Think maybe it means you've gone away? Think that information might be of interest to someone who breaks into homes professionally?
I don't know if, as the song goes, the night has a thousand eyes, but the Internet does and they never, ever, close.