Workplace Privacy


I never really thought about privacy in the workplace before I started working at my current job. Workplace privacy is not a very big issue when you have your own office, but when you are forced to work in a cubicle, it becomes a central concern. In general, I am not a very private person – I have nothing to hide, and I am not threatened by people expressing interest in what I'm doing. Nonetheless, when you are completely crowded in by people For nine hours a day, five days a week, it becomes more important to keep your workplace private.

I first became aware of workplace privacy issues when I accidentally overheard a conversation that the guy in the office next door was having. He was talking to his wife, and the subject of the conversation was rather personal. I wouldn't quite say that it was inappropriate to the workplace, but I definitely would say that he would not have wanted me to hear it. Because we have no workplace privacy, however, I inadvertently heard the whole thing.

It definitely got me thinking how little privacy at work there is. Almost nothing is workplace private where I am employed. I have always assumed that we at least have e mail privacy, but I am beginning to doubt that. I recently found out that the workplace keeps records of all of the e-mails that everyone sends. Ostensibly, the purpose of this is security and productivity. They want to make sure that everyone is doing work things on work time, and that no one is compromising any of the secrets of the company. While I understand these concerns, I can't help but think that workplace privacy trumps them. If they are going to employ us, they should trust us enough and respect us enough to give us a little bit of workplace privacy. Everyone wants security in their communications.

This is why I have been investigating workplace privacy rights recently. Although the company has talked about doing things to ensure more workplace privacy – such as putting up active sound cancellation devices – it is hard to take them seriously. They always talk about changing things, but they never do. I don't really see conditions of workplace privacy improving anytime in the near future. For me, the only solution is probably to quit. Although I'm hesitant to do this, I will if there is no other choice.