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Privacy In The Workplace, Trading Personal Info For A Job
How Much Intrusion Is Too Much?
I want to talk about privacy in the workplace. I’m in the process of moving to a new job with a new company, and I’m excited about it. It’s moving back into the sector I want to work in, and I’ll be working at a hospice where my aunt spent the last days of her life. It will be wonderful that even though it’s an office job, I’ll feel like I’m working somewhere that does work that matters. Work that makes a massive difference to the lives of others.
Before we go any further, I want to stress I am not a civil libertarian or privacy nut. In general, I’m ok with there being a shit ton of data about me held in computer systems worldwide. Why? Because I have nothing to hide. BUT, and it’s a big but, that doesn’t mean I feel comfortable airing a lot of information that I consider personal to get a job.
The Inevitable Forms
As anyone who has started a new job knows, moving to a new company involves filling out a lot of paperwork. You need to fill out payroll information, sign up for the pension scheme, list emergency contacts, and nominate next of kin if you have life insurance. I’m fine with these things because I can see why they are necessary. What I’m not happy with is some of the other forms I was asked to complete.
