Employee monitoring has grown in recent years, reflecting technological advances that make surveillance of employees easier and more affordable According to a survey by the American Management Association, two-thirds of U.S. firms monitored workers' Internet usage and used software to block their access to inappropriate sites, such as ones used for social networking, shopping. or entertainment. About half stored and reviewed employees' e-mail messages and computer files. smaller proportions used GPS technology to track company vehicles (8 percent) and cell phones (3 percent), "Workers' e-mail and other stored information create written business records that are the electronic equivalent of DNA evidence said the executive director of ePolicy nstitute. These programs can be customized to the industry: for example, a hospital might can for "patient info a high-tech company with proprietary technology might scan for a competitor's name or phone number Management justifies the increase in employee monitoring for a number of reasons. Employers have an interest in efficiency. When employees log on to the Internet at work to trade stocks, plan their vacations, chat with friends-or text-message their wives or mistresses, as in the Ontario example this is not a productive use of their time. Employers also fear lawsuits if employees act in inappropriate ways. An employee who vie pornographic pictures on a computer at work, for example, might leave the company open to a charge of sexual harass f other workers observed this behavior and were offended by it. (Sexual harassment is further discussed in the following chapter.) Th employer also needs to make sure that employees do not disclose confidential information to competitors or make statements that would publicly embarrass the company o officers. And monitoring is often used for training and quality control purposes.