Is it ethically acceptable to spy on what your employees are doing while working, including monitoring their cellphone usage and the websites they visit? Is it ethically acceptable to place secret cameras in the office?
It is absolutely ethical - and legal. While an employee is at work, they are supposed to be working. If they are using company equipment, it is the company's right to restrict that usage to business usage only as well. Some companies forbid any personal cell phone usage on company time. I know - it's almost unbelievable.
Is it ok to spy on your child's cell phone usage and what websites they visit, including what they do on social networking sites? Is it ok to search their rooms or place cameras inside their rooms?
Yes, a parent has the right, and the responsibility, to monitor their child's activities in an age appropriate manner. (For the record, I think the camera in the kids room thing is too extreme, but I would stop short of saying it's flat out unethical). The child does not own the home - the parents do. The child usually hasn't paid for the electronic stuff - the parents do. The child is not legally responsible for what's in his/her room or for what they bring into or allow to happen in the house - but the parents are.
I've raised five teenagers - I will not bore you with a long list of what I've found in their rooms or while monitoring their lives and activities, but suffice it to say that my suspicions have ALWAYS been justified. ALWAYS. Every time.
If someone lives in my house, they will live by my rules. If they don't like those rules, they can go live somewhere else.
Is it ok to spy on other adults' private lives, including what they do in the privacy of their own homes or monitoring their internet activity?
No, unless they are doing it in my house or asking me to subsidize it in some way. But if they're on their own time, in their own home, and they are not infringing on the rights of others - most specifically me - it's their own business.
That being said, we probably need a clearer definition of "spying." Is it wrong to hire a private investigator to find out something about another adult? Not within the parameters of the law.
What about spying on people who are suspected of being terrorists? What about those suspected of being involved in criminal activities online?
Once again, we need a better definition of "spying." Also of "suspected." Who suspects the person? How did they come to this suspicion? What sort of monitoring do you consider "spying?"