Competing Values Regarding Internet Use in “Free” Philippine Social Institutions
123
violation and any sanction imposed. Eleven percent, or 114, of the respondents
reported knowing of a coworker who committed some technology abuse at work. Out
of the 114 respondents, 73 gave details about the type of Internet-use-related abuse.
The top two technology abuses or violations were “ pornography related ” and “ downloading of video fi les, audio fi les, or unauthorized applications. ”
23
Thus, like other employers across the globe, Filipino employers are at risk. They
struggle to balance the productive uses of information and communication technologies for saving time and enhancing productivity, while also trying to curtail the abuses
that can threaten their internal security and lead to legal liabilities.
24 At the same time,
the experiences of employers highlight tensions in corporate values — equal treatment/
benefi ts versus cost, privacy versus security, and freedom of expression versus risk of
defamation.
Equal Treatment versus Cost
The use of policies to regulate information and communications technology (ICT) use
is still not widespread among Philippine organizations. Less than half (48 percent)
have an ICT-use policy in place. These policies typically cover the use of the Internet,
e-mail, and instant-messaging applications. A minority have policies on mobile phone
use (16 percent) and use of camera phones (11 percent).
25
Beyond the existence of policy, a dilemma appears to be emerging in its implementation. On one hand, there is a need for any policy to apply to all members of an
organization. On the other hand, actually implementing the policy uniformly may
place an organization at a bigger risk. This dilemma appears to be especially salient in
the case of pornography.
In the case of Company A (a bank) two incidents of accessing pornography were
mentioned. The fi rst was a case of an employee directly caught by the president of
the company. The president happened to pass by his cubicle and saw the employee
viewing a pornographic movie. The employee was terminated on the same day.
The second incident occurred during the height of a sex video release involving
some popular show-business personalities. The IT security director of the bank was
directed by the president to investigate the downloading of these videos in their
system. Since they kept audit logs of Web sites that their employees visit and any
Internet activities that they engage in, employees caught during the audit would be
sanctioned according to the company ’ s policies. With his investigation, the IT security
director informed the president that should the prescribed sanctions be imposed on
those who were caught, more than half of the company ’ s management committee
would not be present in the next board meeting. In the end, the president decided to
release a memo informing everyone that a number of employees had been caught
during the audit and a stern warning was issued (instead of termination).
123
violation and any sanction imposed. Eleven percent, or 114, of the respondents
reported knowing of a coworker who committed some technology abuse at work. Out
of the 114 respondents, 73 gave details about the type of Internet-use-related abuse.
The top two technology abuses or violations were “ pornography related ” and “ downloading of video fi les, audio fi les, or unauthorized applications. ”
23
Thus, like other employers across the globe, Filipino employers are at risk. They
struggle to balance the productive uses of information and communication technologies for saving time and enhancing productivity, while also trying to curtail the abuses
that can threaten their internal security and lead to legal liabilities.
24 At the same time,
the experiences of employers highlight tensions in corporate values — equal treatment/
benefi ts versus cost, privacy versus security, and freedom of expression versus risk of
defamation.
Equal Treatment versus Cost
The use of policies to regulate information and communications technology (ICT) use
is still not widespread among Philippine organizations. Less than half (48 percent)
have an ICT-use policy in place. These policies typically cover the use of the Internet,
e-mail, and instant-messaging applications. A minority have policies on mobile phone
use (16 percent) and use of camera phones (11 percent).
25
Beyond the existence of policy, a dilemma appears to be emerging in its implementation. On one hand, there is a need for any policy to apply to all members of an
organization. On the other hand, actually implementing the policy uniformly may
place an organization at a bigger risk. This dilemma appears to be especially salient in
the case of pornography.
In the case of Company A (a bank) two incidents of accessing pornography were
mentioned. The fi rst was a case of an employee directly caught by the president of
the company. The president happened to pass by his cubicle and saw the employee
viewing a pornographic movie. The employee was terminated on the same day.
The second incident occurred during the height of a sex video release involving
some popular show-business personalities. The IT security director of the bank was
directed by the president to investigate the downloading of these videos in their
system. Since they kept audit logs of Web sites that their employees visit and any
Internet activities that they engage in, employees caught during the audit would be
sanctioned according to the company ’ s policies. With his investigation, the IT security
director informed the president that should the prescribed sanctions be imposed on
those who were caught, more than half of the company ’ s management committee
would not be present in the next board meeting. In the end, the president decided to
release a memo informing everyone that a number of employees had been caught
during the audit and a stern warning was issued (instead of termination).