Internet Access, use and Monitoring Policies in Selected Organisations in Ibadan, Nigeria
The Internet has revolutionized, and continues to profoundly affect, the way one does business. Since the Internet has become a main source of communication both within and outside organizations, they are caught between providing Internet access to employees to perform job related activities and monitoring employees’ use of Internet without infringing on their rights and privacy. This study therefore examined the extent of Internet access and use, pervasiveness of Internet monitoring, availability of Internet use policy and compliance to Internet use policy in the selected organisations. The study adopted ex post facto survey design. Stratified random sampling was used to select 246 organisations comprising those in public, private, not for profit and non-governmental sectors. An adapted questionnaire from Alampay and Hechanova’s 2008 study was used to collect data from the organisations. One hundred and eighty three (74.4%) copies of returned questionnaires were used for data analyses. Descriptive statistics specifically frequency, percentage distribution and cross tabulation were used for data analyses. Findings revealed that two-third of the organisations provide Internet access to employees depending on their job category. However, some organisations monitor employee Internet use and also have Internet use policy. Majority of the organisations are concerned about the content accessed by their employees and therefore blocked some online content and applications particularly those related to pornography, gaming and social networking. Most organisations reported difficulties with employees’ excessive chatting that is non-work related and accessing pornography at work. In addition, private organisations monitor employees’ Internet use most. The results suggest the need for more organizations to articulate their policies on Internet use, educate workers on Internet security and formulate mechanisms to ensure the integrity of employee monitoring. Thus, organis
