Thursday, July 21st, 2011
Is privacy in America dead? With all the camera phones, online tracking software and social media sites, you can pretty much bet on it. But that doesn’t mean you can’t protect yourself.
For starters, go to Google Maps and search on your name to see if they have a picture of your home mapped out. If so, you can request to be removed. Next, set up a Google alert for your name (and company name if you’re a business owner). Google will e-mail you any time something is posted about you with a link so you can keep an eye on reviews, photos, etc. Next, go to www.Spokeo.com and search on yourself – you might be shocked at how much information is posted about you, your home, your income and personal life. You can request to be removed from this site by going to www.spokeo.com/privacy.
Saturday, July 16th, 2011
If you are an organizational leader that is concerned about employees wasting time online using non-work-related web sites like Facebook or Twitter – OR WORSE, using company resources to access pornography, gambling sites, hate groups or more – then read on.
While it’s not uncommon for employees to waste a bit of work time on relatively harmless activities, such as shopping or visiting a favorite sports site, times have changed; employers are learning the hard way that employee use or abuse of a company’s Internet system can lead to significant liability and time wasted if not monitored.
For example, one business owner (who will remain nameless) shared that they received a panicked phone call from the office while traveling. The police had shown up and arrested one of their staff for soliciting a minor online. Since he was doing this during work hours from the office, that’s where the police showed up to arrest him – clearly a PR nightmare. And stories like this are happening EVERYWHERE.
Then there’s the wasted time. Social media sites like Twitter and Facebook are addictive. If your employees are constantly “plugged in” to those sites, they won’t be nearly as productive at work as they should be.
Protecting your company requires two simple steps at a minimum. The first is to have a written company policy that details what employees can and can’t do with company resources or during company hours. Next, you’ll want to have a content filtering system in place that will enforce your policy by automatically “policing” your company e-mail and Internet usage, blocking sites and content you don’t want your employees to access without hindering their ability to work online.
