A reader writes VentureBeat asking if it’s okay to install surveillance cameras to watch employees after a rash of trade secret thefts in the office.
The answer?
Proceed with caution.
4 Kinds of Surveillance
There are generally four kinds of employee related surveillance explains Curtis Smolar, a lawyer representing small businesses and start-ups:
- Work Related Data: Usually acceptable and generally non-
invasive, this monitoring type relates to on-the-job employee performance. - Computer Data: Potentially the most invasive type of monitoring, protect yoruself by making sure that your employee handbook states that this data is not private.
- Video Monitoring: Coinsidered very invasive by employees and often rife with gray areas, notification of a company policy might prove acceptable.
- Audio Recording: Possibly illegal in many states,