According to the Office Slacker Stats, "Useful Employee Internet Abuse Statistics", 77.7% of major U.S. companies keep tabs on employees by checking their e-mail, Internet, phone calls, computer files, or by videotaping them at work. The main reason for employers to constantly monitor employees is to ensure efficiency and productivity or so they say. .
Specifically speaking, telephone monitoring is being used to eavesdrop on employees for possible job-related conversations whereas, computer and video monitoring are used to keep track of employees and see what they are up to. This is issue is still on the rise and is everywhere. "Microphones capable of picking up sound through walls were placed throughout the building, recording private conversations of employees and the public in restrooms, hallways, offices and other areas, the union said "( Dobruck 4). Regrettably, these poor employees have no knowledge about or control over what is going on, employers go from reading employee emails and checking personal records to attaching video cameras in fitting rooms. Furthermore, there aren't any laws that prohibit the regulation of constant surveillance in the workplace so it's completely legal. However, these methods of surveillance can be a fundamental threat to one's right to privacy and a disruption to his/her dignity. Surprisingly, many seem to share similar views on the matter. Jeremiah Dobruck in THE STATE; UC Irvine Police Accuse Bosses of Spying on them also said that "The surveillance is a blatant invasion of privacy no matter the intended objective, said attorney David Mastagni, who filed the lawsuit in Alameda County Superior Court on Nov. 6 on behalf of the Federated University Police Officers' Assn." In other words, constant monitoring of employees is a shameless invasion of privacy. According to the ACLU, it is estimated that employers listen to almost 400 million telephone calls each year.