Over half of Australian workers feel social media has eroded workplace privacy

We now live in a world where a random stranger off the street could find out your favourite TV programs, books you've read and restaurants you've eaten at with the use of only a smartphone and your full name.

This situation could be true for millions of users, who don't put enough privacy safeguards on their Facebook or Twitter pages, leaving their personal information open for anyone to access.

Social media is now not only being used at home for personal use but also sometimes in the office, with many companies employing a social media policy to help guide its use in the workplace.

An international survey of 4,000 people, carried out by AntiVirus and Internet Security firm AVG, found that over half of workers in Australia, the USA, the UK, Canada, New Zealand and Spain felt that social media had eroded their privacy in the workplace.

The AVG digital diaries infographic, Has Social Media Eroded Workplace Privacy?, points out that one in ten Australians said that they were insulted by a colleague using digital communications.

The issue of cyberbullying was mostly addressed by Australia (57 per cent) and the UK (51 per cent) with these two countries implementing anti-bullying policies, while countries such as the Czech Republic and France lagged behind with less than a quarter having policies to deal with cyberbullying.

When asked what action they would take if they were being bullied digitally at work, most of those surveyed said that they would take the issue up with their manager.

In Germany, France and Czech Republic workers were more likely to take up the issue with the colleague in question, while in New Zealand, the UK, and Australia workers would speak to their manager about the matter.

Posted by April Revake.

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