信息对应 练习2 Technology in the Workplace Violates Workers’ Privacy.doc

Technology in the Workplace Violates Workers’ Privacy A We are living in a worid where data, or information, has become a powerful commodity. Massive advances in computer technology are having a two-pronged effect. They are not only making it possible to collect information that at one time went largely unrecorded, but they are also making it relatively easy to store, analyze and retrieve information in ways which, until quite recently, were impossible. It is perhaps not surprising that computer technology is being used in government intelligence agencies to monitor people and practices. However, what is less obvious is the rapid rise in the use of surveillance in companies. B The amount of information already being collected as a matter of routine would surprise most people. For example, any spending that involves a credit or bank debit card, in fact, most financial transactions, is automatically recorded on computer databases. A telephone call to any government agency, will most likely be monitored. Mobile phone companies have equipment that allows them to track the location of anyone who has a phone switched on. Supermarkets, through their checkout processes, electronically record every item being bought by their customers. Electronic toll-booths and traffic-monitoring systems record the movement of individual vehicles. Closed-circuit television cameras now scan most city centres. The increasing widespread use of surveillance technologies and techniques has led to fears that soon there will be no personal privacy to protect. C These large organizations and companies, however, are not only monitoring their customers, they are just as interested in their employees. A 1997 survey by the American Management Association (AMA) of 900 large companies found that nearly two- thirds admitted to some form of electronic surveillance of their workers. Another AMA survey of 526 companies in 2005 found that more than half of the companies surveyed used video surveillance. 86%