The COVID-19 induced pandemic has led to a complete overhaul of the way we work. This includes one of the lesser known facts- the extent to which employers are tracking employees as they work from home.
A simple Google search on 'employee surveillance software' will amaze you on the amount and extent of options available in the market.
The fine line between monitoring and spying
To play the devil's advocate, we can only assume that the companies are not exploiting these resources and monitoring employees only in work hours with their consent, sticking to the intention of measuring productivity. However, this is seldom the case. Even if the firms are abiding by the set goal of measuring productivity, gaining employee consent and informing them about what all is being monitored is missing.
How to know if your employer is watching you?
Before you know how to check if you are being watched or not, you need to check if your employer made you sign any clause while joining the company that gave them your consent to monitor your laptop. If your employer says in the joining agreement that your computer activity will be monitored, then they can 'spy' on you legally. Monitoring softwares used by employers works by capturing keystrokes and screenshots, which can be later used to reconstruct your Gmail or Facebook session. These kinds of monitoring softwares won't show up as usual applications, but as running processes.Press Alt+Ctrl+Del > Task Manager >Processes
The monitoring software will have a bland name, but will be pretty busy despite you using it too much as it is capturing a lot of activity. If you come across such a name, a simple Google search might lead you to the name of the site which sells this monitoring software.//techgig.com/generateHttpWebService-v2.php?tgtype=SAVE_NEWS_READ_LOGS&news_id=88335257&news_title=Is your office laptop spying on you? Here's how you can check&tags=IT Security&ppuserinfo=cookiedata&news_url=//content.techgig.com/is-your-office-laptop-spying-on-you-heres-how-you-can-check/articleshow/88335257.cms
The work-from-home trend is here to stay. What started out as a temporary solution due to the Covid-19 pandemic evolved into a workplace revolution. Things are never going to be the same again and experts agree that remote work is here to stay. Being able to work remotely brings a long list of advantages to both employers and employees.
But there’s one thing that employers don’t really like about this new situation. They’re no longer able to keep an eye on their employees. That’s why many companies decided to install monitoring software on their employees’ computers. Keep on reading this guide to learn what signs to look for if you think your employer is monitoring your computer.
But first, if you’re wondering if Microsoft Teams can be used to spy on you, check out this handy guide to learn the answer.
How Do I Know if My Employer Is Monitoring My Computer?
Check Your Background Processes
If you’re on Windows 10, press the Alt + Ctrl + Del keys and open the Task Manager. Click on the Processes tab and check if there any known employee monitoring software running in the background.
If you use a MacBook, navigate to Utilities, and launch the Activity Monitor. These monitoring tools usually eat up a lot of CPU and RAM, and should be easy to spot.
However, keep in mind that your IT admin may have tweaked your system settings so as to hide the monitoring program. If the program is running in stealth mode, it won’t appear in the Task Manager or the list of installed programs.
Additionally, check your contract to see if your employer mentioned monitoring or tracking software anywhere. The presence of such a clause confirms that your employer has installed some sort of a monitoring program on your computer.
Other than that, there’s really no sure way to tell if your boss is spying on you.
Should there be a monitoring program running on your machine, don’t do anything. If you kill the process or uninstall the program, your IT admin will get an alert. Most likely, they’ll force start the program remotely and let your boss know about your deed as well.
How to Protect Your Privacy
If you’re using a computer owned by the company you’re working for, don’t try to install third-party tools to block the monitoring software. Your employer may get suspicious thinking you have something to hide and this could potentially lead to termination of employment.
Instead, make sure to tape your webcam [unless told otherwise], don’t keep personal files on your work computer, and don’t engage in non-work-related activities.
Conclusion
Your relation to your employer can sometimes be a tricky one. If you’re using a company-provided machine, assume they’re monitoring your actions to stay on the safe side. If you use the computer only for running work-related tasks, there’s nothing you should be worried about.
Do you like the idea of your employer monitoring your actions? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
The continued spread of COVID-19 is forcing millions of Americans to work from home. As many workers shift to a new reality, they and their managers may be concerned about staying as productive as possible.
Although it may be tempting to slack off work when stuck inside the comfort of your home, proceed with caution — your boss could be watching.
About half of large companies use some type of monitoring techniques to keep tabs on their employees, including methods like analyzing texts of emails and social media messages and gathering biometric data, according to a survey from the research and advisory company Gartner in 2018. The company surveyed 239 large corporations.
Brian Kropp, chief of research in Gartner's HR practice, expects 80% of companies to use similar technology by the end of 2020.
Individual managers usually do not have access to the employee monitoring software, explains Kropp, but the information is aggregated by vendors into reports that are then given to specific executives for review.
Historically, employers tracked employees in order to figure out how to improve their work experience and help with their productivity, says Kropp. But when it comes to remote work in this unprecedented time, managers have to adjust to a new normal, with significantly less face time with their direct reports.
"Like it or not, as employers, we have to get comfortable with the idea that employees are working from home," said Kropp. "Then comes the question of, how do we make sure that they are working productively from home? Not just working from home."
Here are some of the ways employers may be keeping tabs on you.
There are numerous ways employers can track workers' productivity. If you are using a work laptop or are connected to your company's virtual private network, your employer has the ability to monitor nearly everything you do.
Keystroke monitoring allow managers to track, record, log and analyze keyboard activity of workers. Other companies, like ActivTrak and VeriClock, give insight into workers' online activities and how they utilize their time.
Methods of instant communication like the messaging service Slack and video-conferencing service Zoom are essential nowadays to connect with others while working remotely, but they also offer monitoring features for your employer.
Zoom's monitoring features have been put in the spotlight recently; specifically, some have expressed concern about a feature that allows hosts to see that a participant has not had the Zoom app in focus, if they are off of it for 30 seconds, while the screen-sharing feature is in use.
According to Zoom, its attention-tracking feature is built for training purposes.
It does not apply to Zoom video; it only applies to screen-sharing, the company told CNBC Make It in an email.
The feature is off by default and is only enabled by an account administrator. Meeting hosts can also disable the feature. The feature only tracks whether the Zoom app window is open.
Zoom stresses that private chats are not made available to meeting hosts.
Slack allows workspace owners to read private messages between workers, so consider only professional communication. "In your interactions in Slack or whatever," said Kropp, "you should behave the exact same way as if you were at work."
Slack did not immediately reply to CNBC Make It's request for comment.
"To protect employees in the workplace, laws and regulations govern specifically what access is permitted by employers," Slack previously told NBC in a statement. "When extracting any data from Slack, employers must always comply with all employment laws, contracts and privacy protections for employees."
To be sure, it's not possible to focus every second of every work day, especially during this unprecedented time.
But there are ways to help you stay on track as much as possible while you work remotely.
You may want to start with a morning routine, Kropp says. Turning on the computer right after rolling out of bed is not enough to get you into the habit of staying focused.
Kropp says creating a "mental commute" to work is necessary. Whatever routine or habits you had prior to your commute to work, like putting on your work clothes, is necessary to get you in the habit of things. "One of the advantages of having that commute is it creates a mental separation between home and life," said Kropp, "so you have to create that same virtual commute to work."
Also, nothing stops workers from distracting activities like checking social media in the office or at home, but that is no excuse for productivity to be affected. "What stops them from going on social media when they are in the office?" asked Tony Lee, vice president at Society for Human Resource Management. "Nothing changes. You should continue being just as productive at home as you were in the office."
Another way to maintain professionalism and productivity while working from home is creating separate spaces for work and "life work," explains Kropp. For example, designate the dining room table exclusively for your work, and the kitchen table is where you can take care of mail, bills and personal projects.
"In order to be effective," said Kropp, "you have got to have a space for work and your space for life."
Correction: An earlier version of this article misstated the ability of managers to access messages on Zoom.
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