In a cutthroat, hyper-regulated workplace where long hours can’t collide with posts on Facebook, Tweets, Google searches, YouTube videos or even mobile phone calls, employee monitoring has become a norm that often borders on intrusion, if not spying.
Global investment banks like Goldman Sachs say regulation is the primary reason they block social media and keep close tabs on all online activity. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority requires firms to maintain a keep a record of any business communication on any device or website for three years. Monitoring e-mails and instant messages internally is easy, but they can’t possibly track everyone’s activity on site like Twitter or Facebook.
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Last week New Jersey joined a growing list of U.S. states that protects job candidates and current employees by allowing them to keep private their user names and passwords for social media sites. Similar protections exist in Arkansas, California, Illinois, Maryland, New Mexico, Oregon and Washington, and FINRA has asked lawmakers in about 10 states to make changes to proposed legislation.
Securities regulators fear these laws would put investors at risk because dispensing real-time financial advice on social networks could create new channels for Ponzi schemes and other frauds. As if most over-worked banking employees are turning to these sites to offer trading tips and investment advice.
Britain has sought to opt out of a European Union initiative that would allow anyone to delete personal details from online service providers – a power known as the "right to be forgotten." The EU's current data protection laws date from 1995, and MEPs are now debating a major overhaul aimed at the general public.
In November 2011, the U.K.’s Financial Services Authority began recording mobile phone conversations of investment bankers and traders in an effort to clamp down on insider trading. The original call recording legislation was introduced in 2008 and the ruling was the first of its kind globally and has served as model for Dodd-Frank in the U.S.
A new white paper by networking gear maker Ciena debunks some myths about cyber security in financial services.
Is your employer taking protection too far?
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