Securing privacy at work: the importance of contextualized consent

Abstract

The starting point of this article is that employees' chances of securing reasonable expectations of privacy at work must be better protected. A dependency asymmetry between employer and job-applicant implies that prospective employees are in a disadvantaged position vis à vis the employer regarding the chances of defending their reasonable interests. Since an increased usage of work related surveillance will, to a larger extent, require of jobapplicants that they negotiate their privacy interests in employment contracting, it is important to consider means of strengthening employees' negotiating power. This article emphasizes the importance of contextualizing consent for contractual agreements to be ethically acceptable.

The Domestic Use of Drones: An Ethical Analysis of Surveillance Issues

“…Furthermore, when subjected to observation and control, Palm (, 235) believes, individuals fail to act in concert with their true selves and at the expense of personal integrity. Rather than behave in accordance with their values and convictions, they engage in adaptive behaviors such as a “manufactured” self, anticipatory conformity, and self‐subordination, unworthy of ethical treatment (Brown ; Rosenberg , 142, 148).…”

Beyond distributions and primary goods: Assessing applications of rawls in information science and technology literature since 1990

“…Eschenfelder, Glenn Howard, and Desai () have focused on Rawls's conception of civil disobedience in order to discuss practices of digital rights management software circumvention. Palm () has used the idea of just background conditions in order to normatively assess workplace surveillance practices. Finally, Rawls's idea of an overlapping consensus has also figured into discussions of ethics, information, and technology—van de Poel and Zwart () apply it in the context of research and development (R&D) whereas Hausmanninger () and Søraker () draw on it in normative discussions of the Internet (though they arrive at different conclusions).…”

Privacy and Freedom: An Economic (Re‐)Evaluation of Privacy

“…Privacy at the workplace has received a great deal of attention, especially with regard to the ethical challenges that arise from surveillance (Palm, ), drug testing (Persson & Hansson, ), genetic screening (DeCew, ), and background checks (Alder, Schminke, & Noel, ). However, working contracts necessarily involve restrictions on privacy, which are usually considered a matter of course rather than restrictions.…”