What Do Employees Think about Electronic Surveillance at Work?

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the unintended effects that accompany the use of information technology for surveillance in the workplace, in particular the negative (panoptic) effects. The extent and nature of electronic surveillance in the workplace are outlined, and the metaphoric and theoretic grounds for the study of panoptic effects are summarized. Data about the meanings that employees derive from the practice of electronic surveillance and about the feelings they have about it are presented and discussed.