(I am both posting this response and e-mailing it to the person who
posted it in alt.comp.anti-virus)
I'm conducting an international study on individuals' attitudes
towards how computers should be used at work
"If you are 18 years or over and currently live and work (full
time/part time or casually) in Australia, the Netherlands, Singapore,
the UK, or USA, you are invited to fill out this survey. Only people
who use a computer and/or laptop at work are invited to complete this
survey."
I guess we don't use computers at work in Canada eh?
and views on how responsible employers should be when it comes to
protecting our computers
our computers?
If we're talking about employers and work, isin't it "their computers"
????
"A number of surveys have been run on internet usage, yet researchers
still know little about how individuals use their work computers."
Personally, I'm waiting for the study on how people use their staplers
at work.
"The purpose of this study is to ascertain how individuals in
different countries use their work computers and/or laptop computers"
How about -> they use their employer's computers to perform the work
they are being paid to do?
"Do you ever use USB keys (memory sticks) or other portable storage
devices including mobile phones on your work pc?"
If this survey is intended to gauge how much time or what activities
that employees are doing on non-work-related stuff on their work
computers, then the use of USB memory devices can be for both personal
and work-related stuff, so that question needs to be asked in a
different way.
"Do you ever download porn on your work pc?"
What if I work in the porn industry?
"Do you ever play online computer games or play computer games from
copied CDs on your work pc?"
I've got a better question:
Do you ever trade music or movie DVD disks with other employees? Do
you or other employees use work computers to copy those disks as you
trade them?
"Do you ever discuss office gossip via email using your work pc?"
Some "office gossip" is pertinent to employment-related or
project-related issues. Again you need to be more clear about the
nature of the gossip if you want to differentiate work and
non-work-related computer use.
"Do you ever send confidential data via email using your work pc?"
Work-related or non-work-related confidential data?
"Do you ever do internet banking using your work pc?"
To access my own personal bank account, or my employer's account as
part of my job?
"Do you use Instant Messaging applications (e.g., MSN, Yahoo, AIM,
Jabber etc) or Internet Telephone such as Skype on your work PC?"
I recently used PC-Telephone to communicate with my office while I was
in Europe. That is a work-related use of internet telephone. Is that
what you mean?
"How much control do you have over your work pc?"
If you are using Windows XP, then hackers probably have more control
over your computer than you or your IT guys.
You ask lots of laptop-related questions. One question I was looking
for was: "Do you store the medical records of millions of military
veterans on your laptop?"
"Who would you blame if ..."
The theft or obtainment of personal information is most likely to
happen as a result of access to the information store about you that
is on file with your employer. Interesting that you do not ask any
questions related to the access or protection of that information.
Interesting also that you don't ask any questions about software that
employers might install on your work computer to monitor your
keystrokes or the web sites you visit, or if the employer performs
blocking of certain web sites.
Do you believe that workplaces need to change/write policies
on computer usage? (Note: I won't be using what you write
here in my research -- only the responses to the survey).
Verbal policies, policies circulated via memo's, or policies written
into employment contracts are next to worthless when it comes to what
is essentially private activity performed at work.
Say you had a policy that you are to use only 1 piece of toilet paper
when in the washroom. If you can't enforce the policy, then why have
it? If you can't enforce the policy in an equal manner to all
employees, then some employees can accuse you of discrimination.
The fact is that there are very few cases where the general office
employee needs internet access vs access to the local corporate or
institutional network. Why so many people have internet access on
their work computers is really the root question that needs to be
asked.
