Abstract
The employment application form is a major source of information about candidates for many companies. It is also a potential source of infringement by the company upon the privacy of the individual. Although September 1984 saw the passing into law of the Data Protection Act, the U.K. has not been in the forefront of civil rights where employees and personal information are concerned. During an extended interview with members of a personnel department of a major company, several issues relating to privacy issues were revealed and these are discussed in the paper. Although these interviews were carried out before the new law came into effect, they do show that this and many similar organisations may experience problems over compliance. This is particularly likely in the computerisation of personnel records and employees' access to their personal information.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
Bibliography
APEX: 1981, Guidelines for Members.
Canadian Task Force: 1972, Privacy and Computers: A Report by the Department of Communication and Department of Justice, Government of Canada.
Cary, F. T.: 1976, ‘IBM's Guidelines to Employee Privacy’, Harvard Business Review, Sept–Oct 1976.
Forrester, J. W.: 1965, ‘A New Corporate Design’, Industrial Management Review 7 (1), pp. 5–17, Fall 1965.
Hewitt, P: 1979, Computers, Records and the Right to Privacy, National Council for Civil Liberties.
Hoffman, L. J. (ed.): 1973, Security and Privacy in Computer Systems, Los Angeles: Melville Publishing Co.
Kovach, K. A.: 1976, ‘A Retrospective Look at the Privacy and Freedom of Information Acts’, Labour Law Journal, September, pp. 548–564.
Klopfer, P. H. and Rubenstein, D. I.: 1977, ‘The Concept of Privacy and Its Biological Basis’, Journal of Social Issues 33 (3), pp. 52–65.
Margulis, S. T.: 1977, ‘Conceptions of Privacy: Current Status and Next Steps’, Journal of Social Issues 33 (3), pp. 5–21.
Miller, D. B.: 1976, ‘Privacy: A Key Issue between Employees and Managers’, University of Michigan Business Review, January, pp. 7–12.
Newman, M: 1985, ‘Access to Information: Strategies for Prevention and Promotion’, Journal of Management Studies 22 (2), pp. 193–212.
Niblett, G. B. F.: 1971, ‘Digital Information and the Privacy Problem’, OECD Informatics Studies, No. 2.
OECD: 1976, ‘Policy Issues in Data Protection and Privacy’, Informatics Studies, OECD.
Rothman, S. and Mosmann, C.: 1976, Computers and Society, Chicago: Science Research Associates.
Schein, V. E.: 1976, ‘Privacy and Personnel: A Time for Action’, Personnel Journal, December, pp. 604–615.
Sieghart, P.: 1976, Privacy and Computers, London: Latimer.
Westin, A. F.: 1976, ‘The Problem of Employee Privacy Still Troubles Management’, Fortune, June 4.
Westin, A. F. and Baker, H. B.: 1972, Databanks in a Free Society: Computers, Record-keeping and Privacy, New York: Quadrangle Books.
Wolfe, M. and Laufer, R. S.: 1974, ‘The Concept of Privacy in Childhood and Adolescence’, in D. H. Carson (ed.), Man-Environment Interactions: Evaluations and Application, Washington D.C.: Environmental Design Research Association.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Michael Newman is Lecturer in Accountancy at the University of Manchester and Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of Connecticut. He has been awarded a grant by the Economic and Social Research Council, U.K. for his project ‘The Introduction of Information Systems into Organisations’, 1985/87. He is one of the authors of Accountants' Roles in Industrial Organizations and Access to Information. He has also published several articles.
Gloriana Marks de Chabris is Junior Accountant at Price Water House (Accountants).
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Newman, M., de Chabris, G.M. Employment and privacy: A problem for our time. J Bus Ethics 6, 153–163 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00382029
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00382029