Network World’s Security Strategies Newsletter, 08/30/07
Ethical decision-making: Identifying the ethical issue
By Mark Gibbs

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Let’s assume for the sake of this discussion that an employee, Bob, has signed an appropriate-use agreement with his employer and that he’s not supposed to use his company computer for non-work-related Web surfing.

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It’s all too black and white. Cut and dried. Either or. The real world is much more gray!

If the employee we are talking about is an hourly employee — the IT equivalent of a burger flipper — then the case presented makes some amount of sense. But, I am hard pressed why they have a fully functional browser, and expensive hardware.

I think the more interesting case is when you apply this to what I will classify as “knowledge workers”. They present a tougher case in what’s acceptable use. Proper leadership would know when the people were being productive and then trying to micro mange what people do by AUPs — which never work — would be unnecessary.

While we are talking about following rules, the rule maker’s hands are not always that clean. Sometimes there are different AUPs for the AUP-makers. AND, then we have many organizations, who want knowledge workers to provide off hour support from home without compensation, wanting to enforce an AUP. Seems like the rules are used when they are convenient.

Bottom line: Everyone must tread very carefully. And, keep notes on what is “current practice”. They’ll be useful when you negotiate your severance or can be used as evidence at your trial. AUPs are another gotcha from the Ebenezer Scrooge School of Overseer Management!

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