Informational privacy: concepts and protections

¶ … Ethics

As a standard rule, employee managers generally require new workers to sign an agreement or contract to ensure the safety of the company and employee in terms of confidential information. In employment contracts, there are generally two main interested parties: the employer and the employee. From the employer's viewpoint, the company is important in terms of information and other privacy issues, as well as profitability. From the employee's viewpoint, human and worker's rights are important issues. In order to avoid serious conflicts between these viewpoints, employee agreements are to reflect both viewpoints in a way that satisfies both deontological and utilitarian ethics.

An example of an employee agreement is the Personal Services Employment Agreement provided by the Military Department of Maryland State. It considers issues concerning both the employee and employer, and finding a balance between these to satisfy both the employee and employer. One could identify potential conflicts between these parties as the conflict between deontological and utilitarian ethics, where the former considers the rights of the employee and the latter the best outcome for the workplace as a whole (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2007).

Before signing an agreement, an employee should therefore carefully scrutinize and clarify all the points of agreement to ensure that there is no perceived abuses of his or her rights as an employee. Potential points of conflict for a Maryland military employee could arise from the requirements stipulated under Article VII of the Agreement.

Article VII concerns the "Diligent and Exclusive Services" of the employee. It stipulates that no other employment is allowed without written approval by the Department. This could be problematic in terms of income, especially if the employee is only appointed on a part-time basis. In today's world, it is a reality that inflation continually climbs while salaries basically remain the same, or at least do not increase sufficiently to cover the cost of living. Hence, employees are often in a situation where a second or even third job is required to simply make ends meet. To ensure the deontological validity of the agreement, the specific requirements of Article VII therefore need to be somewhat modified and restipulated. Rather than allowing no other employment, there could for example be some conditions that govern other ventures to supplement the military services income.

Of course it must be understood that the military is a highly confidential entity, and that no information or service should be divulged to other, similar agencies. From the utilitarian viewpoint, the military is served best when the type of service provided by its employees remains exclusive to the company. However, from the deontological viewpoint, it should also be understood that the employee is in a position where his or her finances from exclusive service to the military are insufficient for the rising costs of living.