Surveillance 2: In the line of fire
How about your own company? Does it have a monitoring policy? According to an American Management Association survey, 84 percent of US businesses who snoop on email tell their workers they're checking up on you. For legal reasons, many businesses automatically scan all incoming and outgoing mail for keywords that could indicate unauthorised transmission of sensitive information.
Even if your company doesn't track Web usage, your computer may give you away. When you surf the Web, various cache and history files store a record of Web sites you've visited. It takes constant vigilance and a nearly heroic effort to remove all traces of Web activity from your computer.
Getting rid of email evidence is even more difficult. Don't assume that periodically deleting your messages makes you safe; most large organisations maintain archives of all corporate files, including those on email servers. Two infamous defendants -- Oliver North and Bill Gates -- can attest to the power of resurrected email.
Take me to the Surveillance 2 ZDNet News special.