Censorship in the workplace? Hell No.

"We are not afraid to entrust the American people with unpleasant facts, foreign ideas, alien philosophies, and competitive values. For a nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people." John F Kennedy


Fourteen million employees just over one-third of the online workforce in the United States, have their Internet or e-mail use under continuous surveillance at work. Worldwide, the number of employees under such surveillance is at 27 million, just over one-quarter of the global online workforce. The "online workforce" is those employees who have Internet and/or e-mail access at work, and use it regularly.Over the past few years, employee monitoring has been increasing about twice as fast as the number of employees with Internet access. The online workforce in the U.S. as measured by Nielsen//NetRatings has grown by about 33 percent per year, to 40.7 million employees using the Internet in January 2001 from 30.6 million in January 2000. When an employee isn't even using "a company accessory" they still have the possibility of being monitored. Is this right? Should our employers be able to do this? Is this just another ploy to be controlled by the ones above us? Or is it simply just to make sure all things at work are done for work? Who knows.
Personally, I think monitoring an employee on a company computer isn't wrong. If you are an employee and you are using a company computer to work, then you have no business doing personal things. However if you are using your own personal blackberry to email back your friend, you shouldn't be subjected to monitoring. Your life outside of work should not be any of your employer's business unless you choose to fill them in. Unless of course your outside life begins to effect your readiness for work, then why should anyone have the right to question it?