Your boss is watching you: Why more companies are spying on workers

[SIMONE DEL ROSARIO]

IS YOUR BOSS SPYING ON YOU? 

SINCE WORKERS FIRST SHIFTED HOME AT THE START OF THE PANDEMIC, COMPANY USE OF EMPLOYEE SURVEILLANCE TECH HAS EXPLODED.

AND EVEN THOUGH MANY EMPLOYEES HAVE RETURNED TO OFFICE AT LEAST SOME OF THE TIME, COMPANIES ARE STILL KEEPING TRACK, AND APPARENTLY CRACKING DOWN ON SLACKERS. 

THIS WEEK WE LEARNED WELLS FARGO CANNED MORE THAN A DOZEN EMPLOYEES AFTER IT SAID THEY WERE “SIMULATING KEYBOARD ACTIVITY” INSTEAD OF WORKING.

THE BANK DIDN’T REVEAL WHETHER THE WORKERS WERE IN OFFICE OR AT HOME. A WIDER COMPANY POLICY IS TO BE IN PERSON THREE DAYS A WEEK. 

IN THE LAST FOUR YEARS, WORKERS HAVE BECOME MORE RESOURCEFUL WHEN IT COMES TO DECEIVING EMPLOYERS’ ATTEMPTS TO MONITOR THEIR ACTIVITY. 

SOCIAL MEDIA IS FILLED WITH TIPS TO GET AWAY WITH APPEARING BUSY.

LIKE “MOUSE JIGGLERS THAT MOVE YOUR CURSOR WHILE YOU’RE GONE.” SOME SELLING AS LOW AS 10 BUCKS.

“THIS IS THE USB ‘MOUSE JIGGLER’ FROM METANTY. IT COMES IN THIS NICE SMALL PACKAGE HERE.”

THERE ARE ALSO KEYBOARD “CLICKERS” THAT SIMULATE TYPING – HITTING RANDOM BUTTONS TO FOOL YOUR BOSS.

BUT RECENTLY – ALL THAT CLICKING AND JIGGLING IS GETTING NOTICED. 

WELLS FARGO ISN’T THE ONLY COMPANY BLURRING THE LINES BETWEEN WORK AND PRIVACY.

J-P MORGAN, BARCLAYS AND UNITEDHEALTH GROUP TRACK EVERYTHING FROM EMAILS TO KEYSTROKES. SOME COMPANIES EVEN TRACK EYE MOVEMENT AND TAKE SCREENSHOTS.

A RECENT STUDY BY THE HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW SHOWS COMPANIES SPY ON EMPLOYEES AT THEIR OWN RISK. THE STUDY SAYS MONITORED WORKERS ARE MORE LIKELY TO BREAK RULES AND DAMAGE OR STEAL WORKPLACE PROPERTY. RESEARCHERS ALSO SAY SPYING HURTS A PERSON’S “MORAL COMPASS”– LEADING TO BAD BEHAVIOR. INSTEAD, THEY SUGGEST A WORK ENVIRONMENT BUILT ON TRUST AND AUTONOMY OVER SURVEILLANCE CONTROL. 

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