Gartner: 60 Percent of Firms Plan Increase in Staff Social Media Snooping by 2015

ZDNet: A new report from market research firm Gartner says that more employers are monitoring their employees’ social networking activities for security reasons. It predicts that by 2015, 60 percent of firms will have programs in place to monitor staff activities on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn and similar sites.

While the reported noted the potential risk posed by social networking, it also cautioned employers to be careful with sigital surveillance programs. “While automated, covert monitoring of computer use by staff suspected of serious policy violations can produce hard evidence of inappropriate or illegal behaviors, and guide management response, it might also violate privacy laws.”