Tools and Legal Issues About Workplace Surveillance
In many countries, like the US, Europe, and Australia, it is legal to watch people at work. Employers have the right to keep an eye on the computers and productivity of their workers in order to protect their business.
Software that can watch what employees do on their computers is one of the most common ways to do this.
Details About the Market
There are many different kinds of employee computer monitoring software on the market. But in this very competitive software market, most software companies care more about quantity than quality. They want to give their software as many features as possible, without thinking about whether or not those features are useful. Instead, a lot of these “extra” features can make work harder or invade the privacy of employees. Also, many of these features might not be good for what you want to do with monitoring.
Before putting employee monitoring software in place, you should know what your business goals are.
Also, stay away from monitoring software that can be used to spy. Spying features are things like keystrokes and screenshots that can be used to record private information about employees. If the point of monitoring is to find out how computers are used, what software is being used, how productive employees are, etc., then spy features like those listed above are not needed, and spy software is not needed at all for monitoring in the workplace.
What Workers Worry About Most
A lot of questions have been asked by employees about computer monitoring at work. But their privacy is a very big worry. People worry that they are being watched in secret. They also worry that as part of the surveillance, personal information will be recorded and made public. This is especially true for video surveillance and keeping an eye on things you own. What are the other things workers worry about the most?
Top Questions That Workers Have About Keeping Their Data Safe at Work
Here are the answers to the most common questions employees have about monitors at work. how workplace monitoring works in general and how your company can use it.
1. If I Work from Home, Can My Boss Use Citrix, Terminal, Or Remote Desktop to Spy On My Personal Computer?
A: No. A Citrix/Terminal Server session can’t be used by your boss to spy on your home computer.
It is not intended for you to utilize your personal computer during sessions for Remote Desktop, Citrix, and Terminal Server.
You don’t have to worry about Remote Desktop being used to spy on your own computer.
Your employer must be able to get into your home computer or private laptop to spy on you. Installing computer monitoring software is needed to get in. No unauthorized people should be able to get into Remote Desktop sessions. Your boss can’t look at what you do on your own computer without your permission.
Only the work you do in a Citrix/Terminal session can be tracked. This is done on the computer at work. But what you do on your home computer or laptop outside of the session can’t be watched.
2. Can My Boss See What I’m Doing at Home When I Use Citrix, Terminal, Or Remote Desktop?
A: No. Your employer can’t see you at home through a Citrix/terminal server or remote desktop session.
Based on how this technology works, it is not possible at all. You need access rights to both Citrix and the terminal session in order to use a video camera. This is the same idea as number 1.
3. Can My Boss Look at What’s On My Computer?
A: Most of the time, the answer is “no.”
When you work from home, this question comes up a lot.
For your employer to be able to install workplace monitoring software on your home computer or laptop, they must be given permission to do so.
See 1, because the idea is the same.
4. Can My Boss Listen in On My Private Cell Phone Calls?
A: No, your boss can’t listen in on your personal calls.
In order for your boss to monitor your personal phone, he or she must be able to get to it.
Your employer also has no right to listen in on your personal phone calls without your permission.
5.Can My Boss Look at My Personal Cell Phone or Laptop When It’s Connected to The Company’s WIFI?
ANSWER: No. Even if you use the company’s WIFI on your cell phone or laptop, your boss can’t spy on you (see 1 and 2). The idea is still the same.
Your employer can see the URLs of the websites you visit using the company’s WIFI, but not the websites’ content or passwords. In any case, HTTPS or TLS protocols are often used to encrypt data these days, which can protect your data.
6. Can My Boss Watch Me Use the Terminal, Remote Desktop, Or Citrix?
A: Your employer can and does watch what you do on Citrix, Terminal, and Remote Desktop.
This means that your boss can watch what goes on in the session, but not on the device where the session is running. The work computer is used for everything in the session.
7. Can My Boss Look at What I Do On My Work Computer?
A: Yes, your boss has the right to watch over computers that belong to the company.
Employers want their workers to use the computers they give them for business and to be productive while they are at work. Because of this, your boss watches you at work and keeps an eye on how you use company computers.
8. Can My Boss Use the Built-In Camera On My Work Computer to Keep an Eye On Me?
A: Yes, your boss can use the built-in camera to watch what you do on your work computer.
You’ll need to put special monitoring software on your computer to do this. Some U.S. employers do this, even though it is not very common. How do I know if that little built-in camera is watching me? Just apply some gum or tape to the computer’s camera.
Dear boss: You have no idea what people do on a computer when they think no one is looking! They’re just not interested.
9. Is It Possible for My Boss To Hear What I Say On My Work Computer or During a Remote Desktop Session?
A: Yes, your employer is able to monitor anything you do while logged into Citrix, Terminal, and Remote Desktop sessions on business machines.
10. Can My Boss Look at My Personal Email?
A: Your boss can check your personal accounts, yes. What you do on your work computer can be watched, as we’ve already said. If your boss has software that records what you type at work, then any content can be watched. And if they are personal social media accounts, your boss can just open them like any other account.
11. Can My Boss See What I Say to People Directly On Slack?
A: If an employee uses Slack on a company computer or Terminal/Citrix session, their boss can read their direct messages.
Your direct messages on Slack will be saved if your employer has monitoring software that records what you type. If you don’t do that, your Slack direct messages will stay private.
12. Can My Boss Use GPS to Find Me?
Employers can and do use GPS to keep track of their employees’ computers, laptops, and cell phones.
13. Can My Boss See What I Do On the Internet On My Cell Phone When I’m Not at Work?
A: No. Your personal cell phone use is visible to your company. Unless your personal mobile phone is connected to the company’s WiFi or you have granted your employer permission to use your personal cell phone, your employer cannot see what is on it. Your IP address may be recorded if your personal cell phone is connected to the company’s WiFi, but it’s less likely that your Internet activity would be monitored. However, if a personal cell phone is present and a monitoring program is set up, Internet traffic can be observed.
With the right monitoring software, you can put your employees’ minds at ease.
Employee privacy is a big concern when it comes to monitoring at work, so it’s best to use performance monitoring software that keeps employee privacy safe.
There are a lot of suggestions about how to use computerized employee monitoring software to manage workplace monitoring, make sure employees don’t get stressed out, and protect their privacy.
EMS is happy to say that its Employee Monitoring Application Free is the best one on the market. It gives you the non-intrusive tools you need to keep an eye on how employees use computers, software, and the Internet, as well as how productive they are. EMS lets you see how your employees are doing on the screen without showing you what they are doing.
