People know what they do; they frequently know why they do what they do

People know what they do; they frequently know why they do what they do; but what they don't know is what what they do does. Introduction With technology moving at such a rapid pace, etiquette and ethics have a hard time keeping up. Five years ago few people had even heard of electronic mail or "e-mail" and even today, whether to add a hyphen or not it is of trivial debate. As a society, we hold dear the value of privacy and confidentiality as a basic fundamental right. Access to the new technology of electronic mail can jeopardize both values. What privacy rights should employees enjoy, and how can these be reconciled with the legitimate need of organzations to control and manage their network? People have come to depend on email as a way to communicate, even actually creating less of a divide for families that live far away or even in another country. But there are quite a few ethical concerns that we, as a society, should begin to consider. The hardest part, as with most ethics, is definition of what is right or wrong and ultimately . . . compliance. Does electronic mail present ethical dilemmas in the areas of confidentiality, security, and ownership? And further, will the actual tone of writing create ethical and social implications in the way that we communicate? This is an essential issue for society as a whole. If this newly created "cyber-community" doesn't have some kind of consistency then frequent misunderstandings can and will occur perhaps even causing social turmoil. A Bit of History In 1775, the colonies needed a way to communicate with each other. Statesman Benjamin Franklin, the first Postmaster General, helped develop the postal system we know today. This system helped bind the new natio... ...uman Resource Management. " Workplace Privacy Poll." 1999 Online. Available:http://www.shrm.org/surveys/privacy.htm Soden,A., "Protect Your Corporation From Email Litigation," Corporate Legal Times, May 1995. http://www.stedwards.edu/stubook/comput.htm www.aptosjr.santacruz.k12.ca.us/computers/page9.html USPS History: http://www.usps.gov/history/his1.htm http://www.nua.ie/surveys, Apr. 16,1999. "300 Million Online by 2005 Asia, South America to Lead Way," http://cyberatlas.internet.com/big_picture/demographics/data.html (March 31,1999) University of Massy. http://www.massey.ac.nz/~wwits/emailpol.htm Haisting, Larry J. EDI: A New Way of Doing Business, St. Paul, MN,1993. Moore, Dinty W. The Emperor's Virtual Clothes, Workman Publishing, 1995. Sims, C. (1993 Dec. 6) Reporter discipled for reading his co-workers email. New York Times, P.A3.