The terms and laws have changed gradually over time addressing different economic situations and problems in the world at large. So addressing these issues in the workplace has become more complex with little or no rights to privacy. Privacy explained briefly is a person's right to choose whether or not to hide information they believe is dear to them. If this something will not harm the company or its party members, then it should be kept private. All employees should always have the right to privacy in the workplace. The five main points regarding privacy in public/private structured companies are background checks, respect for off-duty activities/leisure, drug testing, workplace research and on-site activity monitoring. Work. Coming to a conclusion about privacy, there are limits within which employers have limitations on intrusion, domination over employee behavior and property. Privacy is a claim by individuals, groups or institutions to determine for themselves who, when, how and to what extent information about them is passed to others. Employees' privacy claims vary in terms of their elaborate privacy interests and their conceptions of privacy. In terms of background checks, there is release of autonomy. Autonomy defines a person's personal decisions and acts with individual right. It also includes vital lifestyle choices that are also important in terms of managing one's personal identity, but without regard to the employer and without any public concern. For example, things that pertain to an individual's marital status, other intimate relationships, family life, housing, partnership, or involvement. There are many things that happen in the background check process. It is executed... middle of paper......lis Smith wrote a book called "Privacy: How to Protect What's Left of It", in which he expresses the fact that there are no ongoing lawsuits to express the attention to equality of worker privacy in the world of work. Smith feels like it's periodically swept under the rug, and those in charge of this privacy issue feel like it doesn't outweigh other problems in society, so it gets overlooked. Therefore, being the most complex yet controversial topics, employee privacy rights have been under the microscope for many years and for years to come. Works cited "The Value of Privacy in the Workplace" StudyMode.com. 10 1999. 1999. 10 1999. "Ensuring Your Privacy" http://www.studymode.com. Np, nd Web. November 28, 2013 Smith, Robert E. Privacy. Garden City. New York: Anchor/Doubleday, 1979. Print.