Business Privacy is a Big Deal
Businesses Need to be Concerned About Employee Privacy as much as Consumer Privacy
Of late, there have been many headlines around major technology players putting customer privacy first and making data privacy one of their core values.
The business landscape is hurriedly re-orienting itself to provide the digital consumer with a safe space where their data is protected round the clock. Meanwhile, there’s another important stakeholder whose privacy equally matters. Employees have just as much right to privacy in the workplace.
TRENDS HIGHLIGHT EMPLOYEE PRIVACY
Forced to switch overnight to remote work, organisations turned to digital collaboration and productivity tools to enable their workforce to continue their day-today operations. With little to no time to vet third-party vendors, organisations had to purchase and implement technology quickly or use free applications without weighing vulnerabilities. But this sudden transition was not without its risks, especially for employees. For instance, the steep rise in user base for video conferencing tools caught the hackers’ attention, and live meetings were invaded in some cases. Moreover, while working from home, audio/video calls mean that varied details of employees’ personal lives are archived in vendors’ data records, at risk of being compromised unless the vendor has a stringent data protection programme.
Many companies introducing remote monitoring software when their employees began working from home also raised many privacy concerns. According to Gartner, more than one out of four companies purchased technology during the pandemic to passively track and monitor their employees. Another area where the delicate balance between privacy and necessity worried employees, was the interim health data collection (like vaccination proof, medical records, household surveys, status updates, etc.) carried out to ensure a safe return to the office.
BE TRANSPARENT AND UPFRONT
Employee data collection is not new. Employers have long studied workplace patterns, engagement survey responses, and team dynamics to foster a productive work environment. Employees are usually willing to work together with their employer on this, provided the data gathered directly serves an internal business goal and that the latter informs beforehand about what the data will be used for, how it will be stored, and who will have access to it. The same goes for employee monitoring. A 2018 Gartner study reported that more than 50% of the respondents were comfortable with monitoring on the grounds of valid reasons from the employer.
To put things in perspective, employees willingly trust employers to keep their data safe and use it responsibly. But this trust is broken when employers keep employees in the dark about what purpose their data serves or cross a line with tracking by going to lengths like uninformed surveillance or camera monitoring. The moment employees feel their employer is invading their privacy, it will reflect in the organisation’s attrition rate.
SHAKY LEGAL GROUND
Businesses may also be placing themselves on shaky legal ground when it comes to employee privacy. In terms of the Protection of Personal Information
Act (POPIA), employers have to make employees aware that their productivity and performance are being monitored and provide reasons for doing so. The Regulation of Interception of Communications and
Provision of Communication-Related Information Act (RICA), meanwhile, restricts the interception of communication except under very specific circumstances.
Rather than evade these legal minefields, employers should build trust between themselves and employees and build a safe and compliant environment where privacy is assured.
COMMITMENT FROM THE TOP
Ultimately, employee privacy is as much a leadership prerogative as anything else. It requires organisational commitment on an ongoing basis. Employee data, like customer data, is of critical importance and warrants the same level of protective measures like robust encryption both at rest and in transit, clear data handling statements, and informed consent. In the case of third-party services, the safe choice for businesses is to work with vendors who espouse an ethical approach to data privacy protection, are compliant with local regulations, and would never monetise data.
When privacy is assured, the trust relationship grows stronger. You build more loyal employees who are willing to go the extra mile for customers, ultimately resulting in a positive impact on your bottom line. As such, employee privacy shouldn’t be treated as a feature but as a non-negotiable given.
With 50+ apps in nearly every major business category, including sales, marketing, customer support, accounting and back-office operations, and an array of productivity and collaboration tools, Zoho Corporation is one of the world’s most prolific software companies. For more information, visit www.zoho.com.