The Internet monitoring subject changes depending on the context of who is doing the monitoring and for what purpose.

This article is intended to address a company monitoring its Internet activity for security purposes. It is recommended that a company would do its own monitoring and not have external companies such as the teleco company doing the monitoring for it.

The intention primarily shouldn’t be to spy on your employees and intrude on their privacy but rather to ensure the safety of the company’s infrastructure. I know most companies will not resist the temptation and use such a system to monitor what an employee is browsing online; however, as it stands right now, provided they advise their employees, they can do that freely in the US. Other countries have other rules in that regard.

That being said, a work environment is definitely not a place where anyone should expect privacy regarding their online activity. So personally I do not believe that anyone can expect their company to put itself at risk and not do any Internet monitoring for privacy’s sake. Don’t get me wrong I am not claiming that privacy is not important, it’s just that I believe there is a distinction between monitoring and spying.

Companies, telcos, and mobile phone carriers should list the privacy implications of their terms of service. Privacy agreements, non-disclosure agreements, and the likes, should be served to consumers.

Internet monitoring is also the same with this setting. The only difference is it’s not personal or physical.

We should adhere to Internet monitoring for the sake of our and everyone’s security.