Question

1. Describe how to protect and use corporate data – employees, customers, suppliers, and business partners.

2. Define privacy in common sense.

• Explain the relationship between protection of privacy and corporate business well-being.
• Explain employee email privacy and employer monitoring of Web surfing in the company.
• Explain corporate use of information about employees’ off-the-job behavior (e.g., lifestyle, marital arrangements, social networking, and so forth).

Answer 1

Q.1. Describe how to protect and use corporate data – employees, customers, suppliers, and business partners.

Ans.- Corporate data means all the data generated and gathered by a company during its production, marketing, hiring, and other business processes. The corporate data means data that comes from, but not limited to, the data of customers, employees, suppliers, and business partners. This is very important to keep safe these data as it is a two-edged sword, if a company uses the corporate data effectively it can become successful but if the same organization lost control over its corporate data then no power can save that organization from becoming unsuccessful. During this era of digital fraud, hacking and phishing, ensuring the safety of corporate data has become very challenging as well as necessary. The following are the steps that can be taken to safeguard the corporate data from the hackers.

· Use of sophisticated software should be done to filter out spam, malware and other dangerous files.

· Proper training should be imparted in the employees for the safety of their online data.

· Periodical evaluation of the safety of data should always be done.

· Firewall should be used to safeguard passwords and other sensitive information.

· Before sharing any data with the business partners, the data should be encrypted.

· The most important thing is that never ever try to underplay the need to have a strong privacy policy in place.

· Try to have a multilayer security system in place in the organization.

· Always scan all the devices before inserting any device/equipment in the organizations’ system.

By religiously following the above-mentioned steps, the corporate data can be saved from the crooks.

Q. 2. Define privacy in common sense.

Ans.- Privacy means the right/ability of an individual to save his/her personal and important data from the unwanted people. There is certain information about our life which we don’t want to share with everyone; such kind of information is known as privacy.

Q.3. Explain the relationship between the protection of privacy and corporate business well-being.

Ans.- There is a direct and intricate relationship between protection of privacy and corporate business well-being. The issue of protection of privacy is directly related to the “trust factor” among the different stakeholders of the organization which is quite essential for the wellbeing of any organization. If an employee is unsure about the safety and security of his data, he/she will never be able to concentrate on his job and, hence, his productivity will decrease tremendously. This will directly threaten the profitability of the concerned organization. The same holds true in the case of other stakeholders including business partners, suppliers, etc. For example, consider a situation that the business partners don’t trust each other for the safety of their data. Then in such a circumstance, no business transaction will happen. And all these will lead to the extinction of the organization. Hence, we can say that the relationship between the protection of privacy and corporate business well-being is quite intricate and direct which can never be ignored.

Q.4. Explain employee email privacy and employer monitoring of Web surfing in the company. Also explain corporate use of information about employees’ off-the-job behavior (e.g., lifestyle, marital arrangements, social networking, and so forth).

Ans.- In this era of digital explosion, every organization, whether it is big or small, uses the internet at the workplace. Most of the organizations provide email services to their employees in which the employer has full access from the inbox to even the deleted items. Monitoring of official communication made via email is necessary considering the sensitivity of the information. If an employee communicates something about the company in his official capacity, then the organization has all the right to know such communication. The reason is that the employee is not talking in his personal capacity but on the behalf of the organization, hence, the management of the company must have all information about such communication done on the behalf of the organization.

Now coming to the second part of the question, but if any company expands the arena of monitoring of the employees from his professional life to personal life then it is clearly a case of the violation of one’s privacy which no law allows. The entire organization should respect this. But usually, organizations do watch off-the-job behavior of his employees which is not the right thing to do at all. And the employees should knock the door of the court of law in any such violation of his privacy.