Culture

Canadians love to surf net at work

by Rob Peters | November 19, 2007 at 11:15 am

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It should come as no surprise that people are internetting at work these days. However, some of the big brother tactics available to employers are kind of disconcerting.

I knew someone who had all her work emails and viewing habits available to her boss. Where's the love in that?

While even conscientious employees might sneak a few minutes of shopping at work as the holidays approach, some employees access the Internet and their email year-round on company time. They arrange travel, view real estate, read thestar.com, catch up on Facebook/MySpace/Tagged/LinkedIn/YouTube and, especially, visit blogs.

A survey last year found Canada was the country with the highest percentage of its online population visiting blog sites.

Labour lawyer Eric Kay, managing partner of Aylesworth LLP, says it's mostly young employees who have the habit, left over from school days, of regularly checking social networking sites and email.

More employers are monitoring Internet use, he says. The challenge is balancing the company's interests and the employee's privacy.

What Canadians do most online, being Canadian, is not shopping but banking. One out of three adults banks online. You can bet we're paying bills and perusing accounts on the computers in our cubicles.