The Visible Employee

Citation

Freeman, M. (2007), "The Visible Employee", New Library World, Vol. 108 No. 7/8, pp. 387-388. https://doi.org/10.1108/03074800710763716

As anxieties mount concerning the relentless and pervasive creep of surveillance into our personal and professional lives and the spectre of Big Brother looms before us, this timely and earnest book explains the results of a lengthy research report focused on security issues and their repercussions in the workplace.

Very much a book for human resource personnel and other managers, the two authors present a fairly detailed, (if rather dense at times) account of the Syracuse Information Security Evaluation Project. Issues such as computer protection and the value of information in commercial and management contexts are dealt with in a thorough and objective manner. The computer hacker and the vulnerabilities of computers are well explained as is the concept of “insider theft”. The IT ignorance of many managers is commented upon and the skill with which IT‐literate employees can avoid surveillance and control is noted. Ethical issues regarding surveillance are addressed firmly. An interesting fact arising from the National White Collar Crime Center (sic.) is that employee theft of monetary and tangible assets from US businesses amounts to $90 billion per year, and if intellectual property theft is included then the total rises to $240 billion – a not inconsiderable sum!

This is very much a worthy and hefty tome to read and digest. It is American in scope and language but security issues apply worldwide and to all personnel with a management or supervisory role. The book has a good bibliography and a further reading list and also possesses several useful appendices.