Thought of the day: If you think you can get away with lollygagging and not being productive while working from home, guess again. Your employer is allegedly spying on your online activities. And possibly doing so without your knowledge.
If your employer possibly asked you to download "bundled software" to your computer to enable you to work remotely from your home or with your laptop working from anywhere with an instant Wi-Fi Internet connection, chances are your boss possibly has something secretly tied into the software. If they did bundled secret software into your download, chances are they have a secret program installed on your computer now that analyzes every website and potential Bing.com, Google.com or YaHoO.com search you've performed.
Are you concerned about your employer allegedly spying on your computer while working from home? If you feel the company you work for allegedly has secret software or some type of online spying tool enabled to see all of your online activities, you may want to check with your local state laws to see if what your employer is allegedly doing is legal. If you have Norton.com, you can always run your virus removal service in the background and check for any secretly installed programs on your computer.
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Below is the video transcript from CNBC on YouTube:
00:00
many people are stuck working at home
00:02
right now and according to a new survey
00:04
seventy-seven percent of workers want to
00:07
continue to work from home once the
00:09
pandemic is over the Cova 19 crisis has
00:12
accelerated the global embrace of remote
00:14
by at least 10 years so you have tens of
00:17
millions of people now that are suddenly
00:18
remote many of whom are doing this for
00:20
the first time it's a new experience for
00:22
many employers too for some people
00:25
there's a real fear of if you send all
00:27
of your employees to work from home
00:29
won't they just watch Netflix play video
00:32
games you know not get dressed and
00:33
you'll still be paying them so some
00:36
employers are turning to productivity
00:37
management software or other kinds of
00:40
surveillance to attract their employees
00:42
while they work from home as a result
00:43
employee tracking software has seen a
00:46
significant spike in recent months
00:55
the idea of being tracked at work isn't
00:58
anything new we sign off a lot of our
01:00
rights when we go to work for someone
01:02
and you know it's in that big pile of
01:04
paper that you get on your first day in
01:06
many ways surveillance work goes back as
01:09
far as work does employers have an
01:11
interest in trying to understand what
01:14
people are doing when they're paying for
01:15
them to be at work anyone who works in
01:18
IT can tell you that if you are in fact
01:21
working in the employers place of
01:23
business using employer-provided laptops
01:26
and or other computer equipment and you
01:29
are transmitting information across
01:31
employer owned networks you are
01:34
absolutely being monitored in surveil
01:35
many of these kind of monitoring
01:37
processes have already been experimented
01:40
on on what people consider to be low
01:42
skilled workers in the UK for example
01:45
it's been very common to have biometric
01:47
scanners for cleaners to know you know
01:49
how long they've been in a room for and
01:51
you know how quickly things have been
01:53
done and so on is a lot of these
01:54
technologies have been introduced
01:56
already and now they're starting to kind
01:59
of flow up the chain of the workforce
02:01
and be used elsewhere and I think the
02:04
shifts are working from home means that
02:06
many of those forms of surveillance
02:07
which perhaps we have taken for granted
02:09
while we're at work and now reaching
02:12
into our homes many companies that
02:17
existed pre-pandemic have already
02:20
developed software to track employees in
02:22
a variety of ways there's proto score
02:25
hub staff inter guard time dr. Tara mind
02:28
very clock transparent business and many
02:31
others proto score alone has seen a 600
02:34
percent uptick in interest from
02:36
prospective customers since covered 19
02:39
recently CNBC's Eric chemi spoke with
02:42
its CEO we take a number of data points
02:45
beat a CRM tool that they're currently
02:48
using a phone system like a LAN edge and
02:50
email system it could be G suite or
02:53
Microsoft 365 we aggregate all those
02:57
data points in a real-time proprietary
03:00
dashboard that provides them a weighted
03:02
score we record and transcribe all your
03:05
phone calls well everything I say on the
03:08
it's transcribed so we have a caution
03:11
all of it is recorded we use AI tools to
03:14
massage that into a real-time store that
03:18
you see as does your boss and the CEO
03:21
and the VP of Sales and the chief
03:22
revenue officer everyone is seeing the
03:24
productivity every morning you come to
03:27
your desk you have an email from us you
03:29
have your productivity score your proto
03:31
scores on the first line of the enum
03:33
your score yesterday for hunter score
03:35
was 74 your colleagues were 90 they've
03:39
done more and it's a tool that you could
03:42
gauge yourself against your peers one
03:44
example of a company that uses proto
03:46
score is Vonage I've recently in the
03:49
last year pre-pandemic gone to our
03:52
virtual sales force because of the
03:54
capabilities for pros for was there ever
03:56
any pushback from employees that are
03:57
like I don't like that you're tracking
03:59
everything this feels a little too Big
04:01
Brother II you know that of course it
04:03
depends but I cannot always depends on
04:05
who you know in sales if you want to be
04:07
victim you can always you know guys who
04:10
go out and get things done or those who
04:12
use these tools for their advantage and
04:14
they know we're watching which is always
04:17
good another company working in the same
04:19
space is transparent business which
04:22
takes a different approach but has seen
04:24
a 500% spike in users month two months
04:27
since kovat 19 transparentbusiness is
04:30
different from proto score in that it
04:32
doesn't track anything until workers
04:34
manually clock in but it records those
04:36
exact times and uploads a stream of
04:39
desktop screenshots to your manager when
04:41
you are clocked in you do have the
04:43
ability to delete those screenshots
04:45
after the fact or clock out and stop
04:47
them entirely our technology allows for
04:51
the monitoring and tracking of the work
04:53
that the user the worker reports as work
04:57
done basically instead of reporting to
05:00
an office we report to the cloud and the
05:02
cloud is the canvas and digitizing the
05:05
work flow enables us to work better and
05:07
keep people accountable for the work
05:09
that they do transparent business says
05:12
that this type of system is both easier
05:14
for the worker and ultimately results in
05:16
them having more privacy it's a
05:18
consent when you have a worker going to
05:21
the office you are monitoring them all
05:22
the time there are cameras everywhere
05:24
and this is an invasion to the privacy
05:27
people are super stressed out they don't
05:29
need a micromanager on top of their head
05:33
so with these dishes can say okay my
05:36
process is transparent and worked early
05:38
working so as I'm working actually
05:40
working I can share with what I'm doing
05:42
with you for one registered nurse in
05:47
Arizona the implementation of new
05:50
tracking software at her job with a
05:52
major US healthcare company had a huge
05:54
impact about a year in they switched
05:57
over to this real-time energy so instead
05:59
of going her case it was her amount of
06:02
time that you were actively working and
06:05
they knew exactly what heal started your
06:06
computer and you locked in how much time
06:08
you're on the phone everything was
06:10
marked counted one of my friends said
06:14
I'm quitting this is micromanage me and
06:16
I just I'm not gonna do it and I thought
06:17
why are you getting so angry because if
06:20
you're doing your job it should measure
06:22
out but then don't my 1 and 1 I got in
06:24
trouble because I had too much
06:26
non-productive
06:27
word I didn't move my mouth sorry it was
06:28
I had too much lock time or something
06:30
and I got in trouble and that bad upset
06:33
me because I know I'm a hard worker and
06:35
that shouldn't happened the conclusion
06:37
of all of this is that I left my job it
06:40
just um it was just too stressful it was
06:45
I just didn't I didn't enjoy what it was
06:48
doing anymore but the big question is
06:50
does this actually get results because
06:53
for many managers and CEOs losing
06:55
productivity as a result of more workers
06:57
working from home is a huge concern as a
07:00
c-level employee or colleague myself as
07:03
a person I've always been very fearful
07:05
of employees being remote I've always
07:07
wanted in the office I want to look at
07:09
them feeling I'm a very tactile leader I
07:11
think I wanted that and I was always
07:14
uncomfortable are they working how do we
07:16
assess them working and this is
07:18
comforted me and a lot of CEOs I talk to
07:20
that are using the plug the product now
07:22
it's comforting them that
07:24
or actually getting activity and
07:26
productivity from their staff while
07:28
remote they're seen as an easy option
07:30
you know you buy a software package you
07:33
know you have it installed on people's
07:35
computers you then feel like as an
07:37
employer that you're somehow in control
07:39
of you know this new dispersed workforce
07:42
that are all working from home but if
07:44
you look at the academic research on the
07:46
topic you find that these systems might
07:48
not be accomplishing what you expect the
07:50
evidence most broadly in the academic
07:52
literature is the hard quantitative
07:55
targets don't work they don't make
07:57
people feel good about their work they
07:58
don't make people feel happy and secure
08:01
in their employment and so they tend to
08:03
have an effect of well burnout is one of
08:05
the main ones and decreasing morale
08:08
implementing a surveillance for
08:10
productivity tracking essentially masks
08:12
a deeper more systemic issue and that is
08:15
do people actually know what makes them
08:18
successful at work we've known since the
08:20
50s that people do their best when
08:24
they're given their goals but given the
08:26
tools to meet their goals and they're
08:28
set on their way there are ways in which
08:29
the psychological pressures of being
08:31
watched can actually impair productivity
08:34
you want to say to an employer have you
08:36
thought about talking to your workers
08:38
you know like asking them what's going
08:40
on like having a discussion because
08:42
often you know it's that kind of genuine
08:44
engagement that is what makes
08:46
everybody's experience of work better
08:48
data generally shows that employees are
08:50
actually more productive when they work
08:52
from home because they usually start
08:54
earlier and they work later with fewer
08:56
interruptions than they do in the office
08:58
so if people are on average as
09:01
productive or more productive at home
09:03
are there still reasons to use a system
09:05
like this inevitably averages mask
09:08
people who are both less productive and
09:11
more productive and so because you can't
09:13
distinguish who those employees
09:15
individually are who are more productive
09:17
and less productive unless you actually
09:19
track them that's the justification for
09:21
tracking them when you don't have
09:22
visibility you don't know who is like
09:24
really working super hard and who is
09:27
taking a copy 19 back Asian I do think
09:31
that there are very few times in the
09:33
work place where you could reasonably
09:35
say the employer doesn't have
09:37
you know what I'm doing or to not
09:39
control my behavior or my conduct and so
09:42
we increasingly find that some employees
09:46
are willing to forego some of their
09:48
privacy in exchange for jobs
09:50
particularly in the current economy a
09:52
lot of these questions lead to bigger
09:55
ongoing issues about data and privacy I
09:58
think there's this idea that you know if
09:59
you're generating data capturing data
10:02
from people when they're working from
10:03
home at least then you as a manager can
10:08
say well I you know I I bought this
10:09
software in you know I tried to do
10:11
everything I could do for me it's okay
10:13
if they use it in terms of big data okay
10:16
in general these are the things that we
10:18
need to work on we've got people
10:19
spending too much time on chat or
10:21
whatever it is but when it gets down to
10:23
two individual data it's just I can't
10:25
think of any other reason you would do
10:27
it then you don't trust your people and
10:29
while workers surveillance isn't
10:31
anything new much of this particular
10:33
kind of surveillance is new the law
10:35
simply is not keeping up with this
10:37
technology right now what we have are
10:39
general laws that say while employees
10:42
don't have a lot of privacy they do have
10:46
some right and so the law really does
10:47
need to play catch-up I think it is
10:50
probably true that we need to be
10:52
advocating for greater legal protections
10:55
and greater restrictions on what
10:58
employers reasonably can and cannot do
11:00
both proto score and transparent
11:03
business promote the idea of openness
11:05
and keeping workers informed on what's
11:07
happening but companies are not legally
11:10
required to do that so you don't need
11:12
you don't need their permission because
11:15
it's all company it's all company days
11:17
it's all company data it's the company
11:19
the systems they are currently using so
11:22
there's a lot of data points that
11:23
companies get they don't have to share
11:25
we advocate for sharing so if they don't
11:29
track and surveil workers what should
11:31
companies be doing when their employees
11:33
are working from home
11:34
Darren Murph is head of remote for
11:36
gitlab a company that has operated it's
11:38
more than 1,200 person work force all
11:41
remotely since its inception for a lot
11:43
of managers this is a jarring moment for
11:46
them where they have to kind of question
11:48
everything that has got them thus far
11:50
and
11:50
learn in real time what it takes to be a
11:53
great remote manager gitlab doesn't use
11:56
surveillance software it instead focuses
11:58
on documenting metrics and objectives
12:00
fostering open communication and
12:03
emphasizing results the key here is
12:05
don't just look at how often someone is
12:08
sitting in front of their keyboard or in
12:09
front of their desk that was never a
12:10
great way to measure productivity even
12:12
in the office
12:13
fundamentally we believe that you should
12:15
measure results not our spent and that's
12:19
how it already works for many people in
12:20
management what are we going to start
12:22
measuring the CEOs productivity at the
12:25
end of the day's investor returns and
12:27
how we do that grow the stock price
12:29
right for public or private companies we
12:31
have milestones we have due dates we
12:33
have reminders but it's on each
12:35
individual and team and leader to use
12:38
these functions to keep us all on track
12:41
at the core of it humans are not robots
12:43
we are empathetic beings and especially
12:46
in a remote setting a fabric of that the
12:48
culture of that is really important for
12:50
morale to stay high and for people to
12:52
feel like they're connected as a team
12:54
and not just another cog in the wheel
12:57
for some much of this comes down to what
13:00
it is you're trying to accomplish in the
13:01
first place is that drive towards
13:04
productivity the only thing that we want
13:06
from work you know if it is by the
13:08
software packages have a viewing of
13:10
people's desktops while they were at
13:12
home the whole time but I don't think
13:14
that's the kind of organization that
13:15
many people want to work for today one
13:17
of the kind of lessons that people maybe
13:18
can take away from this during the
13:19
pandemic is just because a new tool is
13:22
going to be used
13:24
always proposed to be used doesn't mean
13:26
it has to be work should be a
13:28
negotiation so this is a point of
13:30
inflection for managers and workers both
13:33
there are many employers that are
13:34
looking at this and thinking this is a
13:36
real opportunity to reshape work to
13:39
change whether people think surveillance
13:41
is acceptable or not to change who needs
13:44
to be in the office and who doesn't will
13:46
it benefit people who are working and
13:49
they're now able to work in new ways or
13:51
will it benefit employers who will find
13:53
new ways to to get the most out of of
13:56
people's time they've fought to make
13:58
people work even harder and so on
14:00
employees can help - you can manage up
14:03
working from home particularly when
14:05
you're new to it and particularly your
14:07
manager is due to it requires more
14:09
communication not less checking in in
14:11
the morning checking in in the afternoon
14:13
you having once a week get together x'
14:16
and micro goals so that you know you
14:18
both understand okay am i working on the
14:20
right thing am i getting my job done and
14:22
you're sort of telling your manager
14:23
don't worry about it I'm getting my job
14:24
done I think for companies far and wide
14:26
you're starting to see that the further
14:28
people are from you the more you have to
14:31
let go and enable them and empower them
14:33
to move the business forward you cannot
14:36
run a remote team successfully long term
14:38
through micromanagement and fear as
14:40
we're seeing the world open up and
14:42
remote opportunities are everywhere now
14:45
people that are under that type of
14:47
duress will inevitably start to look at
14:49
other companies which are more trusting
14:51
and more autonomous
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