Dataveillance Duality: Navigating Employee Accountability and Privacy Concerns in the Digital Age

Abstract

This study examines the impact of dataveillance on employee accountability, privacy invasion, and compliance intentions across various industries. By drawing on accountability theory and analyzing survey data from 149 employees, we explore how monitoring practices influence these perceptions. Our findings reveal that dataveillance significantly enhances accountability, which in turn promotes compliance with data security policies. However, heightened perceptions of privacy invasion due to monitoring can reduce compliance intentions, creating a tension between its positive and negative effects. These results emphasize the dual role of workplace monitoring, as it serves both to reinforce accountability and to provoke concerns about privacy. Organizations must navigate these tradeoffs carefully to maximize the benefits of dataveillance while minimizing its adverse impacts on employee behavior. This study contributes to the literature by demonstrating how dataveillance simultaneously enhances accountability and heightens privacy concerns, providing insights into the tradeoffs organizations face when implementing monitoring practices to ensure compliance.

Department(s)

Pendleton Family School of Accountancy

Document Type

Article

DOI

10.2308/ISYS-2023-050

Keywords

accountability theory, compliance intentions, data protection, data security policies, dataveillance, employee accountability, organizational surveillance, privacy invasion, reactance theory, workplace surveillance

Publication Date

9-1-2025

Journal Title

Journal of Information Systems

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