Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce

Identification of the case Problem/Dilemma

The Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) has 45,000 employees worldwide. The bank serves 350,000 small businesses, 7,000 corporate and investment banking customers, and serves six million individual customers. The bank has a net income of $1,029 billion in 1999 and total assets of $250 billion. The bank was formed out of a merger between The Canadian Bank of Commerce and Imperial Bank of Canada. The bank offers retail and wholesale products and services through an electronic banking network, and in offices and branches around the world.

The problem or dilemma for the company is that the leaders have to worry about customer privacy and employee privacy. Companies have the obligation to protect customer data. The company has to protect the data against inappropriate use. Since the Tournier vs. the National Provincial and Union Bank of England, privacy policies have been put in place to protect the customer. Employee privacy is different. Employees are allowed to use the company email for internal and external communications. Banks such as CIBC rely on software that monitors all employee communication. The software uses key words, which are a combination of words and sentences. When the combination of words is found, the communication gets flagged for review.

The issues that can affect employees are:

* What happens if the software flags an employee’s private email?

* What are the consequences for the employee?

* What are the legal ramifications for the employee?

* Will the employee be subject to termination?

* How can the employee protect himself or herself?

* How can the company protect itself legally?

* Does the employee have any rights?

Possible Approaches

The company can exclude personal email sent by the employees. Personal emails can be flagged so that the software excludes them from being scanned. Employees can be free to write emails to...