DOCUMENT RESUME ED 299 406 CE 051 015 TITLE The Electronic Supervisor: New Technology, New Tensions. INSTITUTION Congress of the U.S., Washington, D.C. Office of Technology Assessment. REPORT NO OTA-CIT-333 PUB DATE Sep 87 NOTE 152p. AVAILABLE FROMSuperintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402 (GPO Stock No. 052 - 003 - 01082 -B: $6.50). PUB TYPE Reports - Research/Technical (143) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC07 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS *Civil Liberties; *Computer Oriented Programs; *Electronic Equipment; Employer Employee Relationship; *Employment Practices; Equipment Utilization; Foreign Countries; *Job Performance; Legal Problems; Legal Responsibility; *Privacy; Public Policy; Supervisory Methods; Telephone Communications Systems IDENTIFIERS *Computer Work Monitoring ABSTRACT Computer technology has made it possible for employers to collect and analyze management information about employees' work performance and equipment use. There are three main tools for supervising office activities. Computer-based (electronic) monitoring systems automatically record statistics about the work of employees using computer or telecommunications equipment in their jobs. Service observation refers to the practice of listening in on an employee's conversation with a customer. Automatic service observation refers to computer tracking of calls' durations and destinations. Telephone accounting refers to automatic, computer-generated records of the times, durations, and destinations of telephone calls. The use of these technologies is surrounded by controversy. Some praise this new technology as a way of helping employers manage resources, plan workloads, reduce costs, and provide employees with timely feedback. Others fear the potential civil liberties and privacy abuses of these new technologies. Another important concern is that there are, at present, no requirements in United States law that monitoring be fair or that employees be consulted about work standards. (Appendixes include notes on computer work monitoring in other countries and the privacy and civil liberties implications of testing employees in the workplace.) (MN) ***************************** ***** ************************************* * Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made * * from the original document. * AA*****************************************************************-*** 2(7\%1 lbec4ronic Supervisor New Technology New Tensions U S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATI01. Office of Educational Research andimprovement EDUCATIONA L RESOURCESINFORMATION CENTE (ERIC) o /Ms document has bunreproduced as received from the person ororganization originating it C Minor changes have beenmade to HTIPrO,0 reproduction quality Points of view or opinions statedth IS docu- ment do not necesvinlyrepresent official \r) OERI positron or policy 0 CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES OFFICE OF TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT Office of Technology Assessment Congressional Board of the 100th Congress MORRIS K. UDALL, Arizona, Chairman TED STEVENS, Alaska, Vice Chairman Senate House ORRIN G. HATCH GEORGE E. BROWN, JR. Utah California CHARLES E. GRASSLEY JOHN D. DINGELL Iowa Michigan EDWARD M. KL-NNEDY CLARENCE E. MILLER Massachusetts Ohio ERNEST F. HOLLINGS DON SUNDQUIST South Carolina Tennessee "LAIBORNE PELL AMO HOUGHTON Rhode Island New York JOHN H. GIBBONS (Non voting) Advisory Council WILLIAM J. PERRY, Chairman CLAIRE T. DEDRICK RACHEL McCULLOCH H&Q Technology Partners California Land Commission Brandeis University DAVID S. POTTER, Vice Chairman S. DAVID FREEMAN CHASE N. PETERSON General Motors Corp. (Ret.) Lower Colorado River Authority University of Utah EARL BEISTLINE MICHEL T. HALBOUTY JOSEPH E. ROSS Consultant Michel T. Ila Monty Energy Co. Congressional Research Service CHARLES A. BOWSHER CARL N. HODGES General Accounting Office University of Arizona Director JOHN H. GIBBONS The Technology Assessment Boardapproves the release of this report The views expressed in this report are not necessarily those of the Board. OTA Advisory Council,or individual members thereof 1 I 4 Er liC Supervisor New Technology New Tensions 1 CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES OFFICE Or I EQHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT %....., Washington. 0 C 20510-8025 Recommended Citation: U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment, The Electronic Supervisor. New Technology, New Tensions, OTA-CIT-333 (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Print- ing Office, September 1987). Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 87-619855 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402-9325 (order form can be found in the back of this report) " Foreword The Electronic Supervisor. New Technology, New Tensions,deals with the use of computer-based technologies to measure how fast or how accuratelyem- ployees work. New computer-based office systemsare giving employers new ways to supervise job performance and control employees'use of telephones, but such systems are also controversial because they generate such detailedinformation about the employees they monitor. This assessment exploresa broad range of questions related to the use of new technology in the workplaceand its effects on privacy, civil liberties, and quality of working life. This study was requested by the House Committeeon Government Opera- tions and the Subcommittee on Civil and Constitutional Rights ofthe House Com- mittee on the Judiciary. A second report resulting from thesame request, Defending Secrets, Sharing Data: New Locks and Keys forElectronic Informa- tion, will discuss how important developments in computersecurity are converg- ing with technologies and policies for communications security.It also explores the past and future role of government policies in the evolutionof information security technologyparticulary cryptographyfor safeguardingcommunication in government and the private sector. OTA wishes to thank the many people and organizations thatcontributed to this assessment through advisory panels, interviews, reviews, and othermeans of sharing their information and experience withus. The final responsibility for the study, however, rests with OTA. JOHN H. GIBBONS Director b iii r Advisory PanelThe Electronic Supervisor: New Technology, New Tensions Granger Morgan, Ph.D., Chairman Carnegie Mellon University Peter Arment Gary T. Marx, Ph.D. Division of Telecommunications Professor of Sociology State of New York Massachusetts Institute of Technology Robert R. Be lair, Esq. Robert Morris, Ph.D.* Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Chief Scientist, NCSC-C Jerry J. Berman National Security Agency Chief Legislative Counsel Susan L. Quinones, Esq. American Civil Liberties Union Conde llo, Ryan, Piscitelli H. W. William Caming, Esq. Virginia du Rivage Consultant Research Director 9 to 5 National Association of Working Robert H. Courtney, Jr. Women President RCI Forrest Smoker Director Harry B. De Maio Corporate Telecommunications Director, Data Security Program North American Phillips Corp. IBM Corp. Willis H. Ware, Ph.D. John Harris Corporate Research Staff Special Assistant to the President The Rand Corp. American Federation of Government Employees (AFL-CIO) Fred H. Wynbrandt Assistant Director James M. Kasson Criminal Identification and Information Vice President, R&D Branch Rolm Corp. State of California Steven Lipner Digital Equipment Corp. *Ex officio NOTE: OTA appreciates and is grateful for the valuable assistance and thoughtful critiques provided by the advi- sory panel members. The panel does not, howover, necessarily approve, disapprove. or endorse this report. OTA assumes full responsibility for the report and the accuracy of its contents. Project StaffThe Electronic Supervisor: NewTechnology, New Tensions John Andelin, Assistant Director, OTA Science, Information, and Natural Resources Division Fred W. Weingarten, Manager Communication and Information Technologies Program Project Staff Charles K. Wilk, Project Director Karen G. Bandy, Principal Author Jim Dray, Research Analyst Robert Kost, Legal Analyst Mary Ann Madison, Analyst Joan Winston, Analyst** Administrative Staff Elizabeth A. Emanuel, Administrative Assistant Audrey D. Newman, Administrative Secretary Sandra Serbinoff, Secretary Contractors Sandra Albrecht, University of Kansas Emanuel Donchin, University of Illinois Steven Deutsch, University of Oregon Paul Faerstein, Hay Group, Inc. Gary T. Marx and Sandford Sherizen Data Security Systems, Inc. Michael J Smith, University of Wisconsin Sharon H. Strom Alan F. Westin, Russell Pipe, and Elaine J. Eisenman Educational Fund for Individual Rights Until Ape 1986. **After April 1986. S 4 Reviewers and Other Contributors David Alexander Dick Greenwood Diana Wickes Roose George Meany Center for International Association of Oberlin College Labor Studies Machinists and Aerospace Jacquelin Ruff Robert Arndt Workers Service Employees International University of Wisconsin Henry Guzda Union Nicholas A %ford U.S. Department of Labor James Rule Massachusetts Institute of Chris Higgins State University of New York Technology University of Western Ontario Hedva Sarfati Jordon Barob George Kohl International Labor Organization American Federation of State, Communications Workers of David Shamanski County and Municipal America Philip She Maas Employees Jack Landers IBM Corp. Joe Blanding General Services AdministrationDonald Sheridan United Auto Workers Charlotte Le Gates General Services Administration Bobbette Bond Computer and Business Donald E. Soeken United Food and Commercial Equipment Manufacturers Association of