Surveillance and the future of work: exploring employees’
attitudes toward monitoring in a post-COVID workplace
Dublin Core
Title
Surveillance and the future of work: exploring employees’
attitudes toward monitoring in a post-COVID workplace
attitudes toward monitoring in a post-COVID workplace
Subject
workplace surveillance, future of work, information and communication technologies, privacy, contextual integrity
Description
The future of work increasingly focuses on the collection and analysis of worker data to monitor communication, ensure productivity, reduce se-
curity threats, and assist in decision-making. The COVID-19 pandemic increased employer reliance on these technologies; however, the blurring
of home and work boundaries meant these monitoring tools might also surveil private spaces. To explore workers’ attitudes toward increased
monitoring practices, we present findings from a factorial vignette survey of 645 U.S. adults who worked from home during the early months of
the pandemic. Using the theory of privacy as contextual integrity to guide the survey design and analysis, we unpack the types of workplace sur-
veillance practices that violate privacy norms and consider attitudinal differences between male and female workers. Our findings highlight that
the acceptability of workplace surveillance practices is highly contextual, and that reductions in privacy and autonomy at work may further exac-
erbate power imbalances, especially for vulnerable employees.
curity threats, and assist in decision-making. The COVID-19 pandemic increased employer reliance on these technologies; however, the blurring
of home and work boundaries meant these monitoring tools might also surveil private spaces. To explore workers’ attitudes toward increased
monitoring practices, we present findings from a factorial vignette survey of 645 U.S. adults who worked from home during the early months of
the pandemic. Using the theory of privacy as contextual integrity to guide the survey design and analysis, we unpack the types of workplace sur-
veillance practices that violate privacy norms and consider attitudinal differences between male and female workers. Our findings highlight that
the acceptability of workplace surveillance practices is highly contextual, and that reductions in privacy and autonomy at work may further exac-
erbate power imbalances, especially for vulnerable employees.
Creator
Jessica Vitak 1
, Michael Zimmer
, Michael Zimmer
Source
https://doi.org/10.1093/jcmc/zmad007
Date
7 March 2023
Contributor
PERI IRAWAN
Format
PDF
Language
ENGLISH
Type
TEXT
Files
Collection
Citation
Jessica Vitak 1
, Michael Zimmer, “Surveillance and the future of work: exploring employees’
attitudes toward monitoring in a post-COVID workplace,” Repository Horizon University Indonesia, accessed October 31, 2025, https://repository.horizon.ac.id/items/show/8684.
attitudes toward monitoring in a post-COVID workplace,” Repository Horizon University Indonesia, accessed October 31, 2025, https://repository.horizon.ac.id/items/show/8684.