公司该监控员工私密的社交媒体吗

Social networks offer a window into how people live their lives.
社交网络为了解人们的生活提供了一扇窗。

But should employers be looking into that window?
但雇主是否应该窥探这扇窗呢？

It's becoming an increasingly important question. The number of people fired over social-media posts is rising, and many employers look closely at a job candidate's online presence before making a decision.
这正在成为一个日益重要的问题。因为社交媒体帖子被解雇的人越来越多，很多雇主在做出决定之前都会仔细考察职位候选人在网上的行为。

For an idea of how prevalent those practices have become, consider a 2013 survey from CareerBuilder, which helps corporations target and attract workers. According to the survey, 39% of employers dig into candidates on social sites, while 43% said they had found something that made them deep-six a candidate -- such as posting inappropriate photos or information, or bad-mouthing a former boss.
想了解这种做法有多么普遍，看看2013年CareerBuilder的一项问卷调查就知道了。CareerBuilder是帮助企业寻找并吸引人才的一个招聘网站。调查结果显示，39%的雇主都会在社交网站上考察候选人，43％的雇主表示他们在网上找到了放弃某位候选人的信息──比如上传不适当的照片或信息，或者说前老板的坏话等。

On the flip side, 19% said they found information that sold them on a candidate, such as communication skills or a professional image.
另一方面，19%的雇主说他们找到了支持雇佣某位候选人的信息，比如沟通技巧或职业形象。

Some advocates say employers should be doing even more than they are now to monitor social media -- they should keep an eye on workers' tweets and updates around the clock. Privacy proponents and worker advocates say it's unnecessary. Most of what people post has nothing to do with work, they say, and shouldn't be monitored unless there's a clear reason to suspect wrongdoing.
有倡议者说，雇主应该在现在的基础上进一步监控员工的社交媒体──应该时刻密切关注员工的网上发言和状态更新。拥护隐私和支持员工的一方则表示没有必要这么做。他们说，员工在网上发的东西大都和工作无关，除非有明确的理由怀疑员工有不当行为，否则不应该被监控。

Yes: Keeping an Eye on Employees Helps Companies Protect Themselves
应该监控：监控员工社交媒体行为有助于保护公司

--Nancy Flynn
--Nancy Flynn

Management has a right and responsibility to monitor how employees are using social media at all times. If companies don't pay attention, they may end up facing any number of serious problems.
管理层有权利和责任时刻监督员工在社交媒体上的行为。如果公司不关注，就有可能面临严重的问题。

It's all too easy for disgruntled or tone-deaf employees to go onto social media and criticize customers, harass subordinates and otherwise misbehave. Sometimes that can bring workplace tensions and complaints, sometimes it can damage a company's reputation in the marketplace, and sometimes it can lead all the way to lawsuits or regulatory action. (And, like email, social-networking records can be subpoenaed and used as evidence.)
满腹牢骚或不懂得察言观色的员工太容易在社交媒体上批评客户、骚扰下属或者行为失当了。这样做有时会给办公室带来压力和抱怨，有时会损坏公司在业界的名声，有时会导致诉讼或管制行动。（和电子邮件一样，社交网络上的记录也可用于法庭传讯并当作证据使用。）

Not Harmless
并非无害

Some critics say that this is an exaggeration -- that most of what people post on social networks is private and perfectly harmless, and has no bearing on their work. These critics also argue that companies often do these searches out of prudery or as ideological witch hunts.
有批评人士说这是夸大其词──人们在社交网络上发的东西大都是私密和完全无害的，而且和工作没有关系。他们还认为，公司进行这种搜索常常是出于太过谨慎或者意识形态上的迫害。

In fact, a significant chunk of employees acknowledge posting information that they shouldn't. Consider the results of the '2009 Electronic Business Communication Policies and Procedures Survey' from American Management Association and my organization, the ePolicy Institute. In the survey, 14% of employees admitted to emailing confidential company information to third parties; 6% sent customers' credit-card data and Social Security numbers; and another 6% transmitted patients' electronic protected health information.
事实上，相当多的员工都承认在网上发过不应该发的东西。美国管理协会(American Management Association) 和我所在的组织ePolicy Institute所进行的《2009年电子商务沟通政策及流程调查》(2009 Electronic Business Communication Policies and Procedures Survey)结果显示，14%的员工承认曾将公司保密信息通过电邮发给第三方；6％的员工曾发送客户的信用卡数据和社保数据；还有6％曾传输病人的电子保密健康信息。

Some of the examples I've come across show just how serious those types of employee missteps can be. Hospital employees have come under criticism or have been fired for discussing patients on Facebook -- which violated not only hospital policy but also the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. A city official accidentally put some city employees' private information on a public website, then linked to the site from Twitter, which exposed the workers to potential identity theft and left the city vulnerable to regulatory action, negative publicity and lawsuits.
我所发现的有些案例表明了这种员工过失的严重程度。医院员工因为在Facebook上讨论病人而受到批评或被解雇──公开讨论病人的做法不仅违反医院的政策，同时也违反联邦《医疗保险转移变更与责任法》(Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act)。一名市政官员不小心将部分市政员工的私人信息放到了一个公共网站上，然后从Twitter链接到了这个网站，这种行为有可能导致员工身份被盗，市政府也可能会因此受到监管、公众形象受损甚至遭到起诉。

In many other cases, employees have griped about their company online, or posted joke videos that put it in a bad light and took a considerable amount of damage control to undo.
在其他很多案例中，员工在网上抱怨自己的公司，或者上传有损公司形象的搞笑视频，然后又要花很大精力弥补自己的过失带来的影响。

Strict monitoring allows employers to spot potential problems early, get the information offline as quickly as possible and discipline the employees involved. Along with keeping an eye on what happens on internal computer networks and public social media, companies should ask for access to employees' Facebook accounts and other private social media.
严格监控能让雇主尽早发现潜在的问题，可以尽快将不当信息从网上删除并对当事员工予以惩戒。除了监控内部电脑网络和公共社交媒体上的情况，公司还应该要求员工提供Facebook账号及其他私人社交媒体账号信息。

Looking at Candidates
招聘筛选工具

Beyond that, some critics say it's unfair for companies to use social media as a factor in screening potential hires. It could lead to discrimination, they say, and it may screen out otherwise strong candidates who have done some things the company doesn't like but aren't related to work.
除此之外，还有批评人士说，公司把社交媒体作为筛选求职者的一个因素是不公平的。他们说，这样做可能会导致歧视，而且优秀的候选人可能会由于做了公司不喜欢但和工作无关的事情而被筛除掉。

Of course, it is important that companies don't use social media to discriminate based on things like age, ethnic background or religious beliefs. Employers should make sure that they have legitimate business reasons for rejecting applicants.
当然，公司不应该使用社交媒体并基于年龄、族裔背景或宗教信仰等因素而歧视候选人，这是很重要的。雇主应该确保有合理的商业原因拒绝候选人。

But, contrary to what critics argue, when companies conduct social-media checks on prospective hires, they typically are searching for legitimate evidence to withdraw or rethink a job offer, such as references to drugs or other illegal activities, comments that are discriminatory or harassing, or signs that an applicant has been dishonest about work history or abilities.
不过，和批评人士的看法相反，在对潜在雇员进行社交媒体调查时，公司一般都会寻找撤销或重新考虑某个工作邀约的合理证据，比如涉及到毒品或其他非法活动，歧视性或骚扰性的话语，或者申请人对工作经历或自身能力撒谎的迹象等。

They aren't just snooping around for, say, embarrassing photos that offend HR's sensibilities. To suggest that HR professionals monitor social media to root out private activity that they personally disapprove of is to make light of real dangers and potentially costly and protracted legal and regulatory risks.
他们到处调查并不是为了挖出冒犯招聘人员神经的 照。认为招聘人员考察社交媒体是为了杜绝他们个人不喜欢的隐私活动，就是轻视了真正的危险，以及有可能代价很高、并且旷日持久的法律和监管风险。

Ms. Flynn is the founder and executive director of The ePolicy Institute, a training and consulting firm that helps employers limit email and Internet risks.
该部分作者南希・弗莱恩(Nancy Flynn)为The ePolicy Institute创始人及执行董事，这是一家帮助雇主限制电子邮件及互联网风险的培训咨询公司。可通过reports@wsj.com联系作者。