[Exalted]

I genuinely wonder whether this happens a lot; I've never encountered an employer that installed spy/monitoring software on devices. Still, as I keep reading more and more about it, I wondered if someone here experienced their employer delivering hardware with spy/monitoring software pre-installed and, if so, could you tell us about it?

[Lynx]

I don't work for an employer right now but I would certainly not respect it.
There are other ways to monitor productivity.

[Neon™]

I don't work for an employer right now but I would certainly not respect it.
There are other ways to monitor productivity.

Same here. I just asked my buddy cuz I remember he sent me a pic of him watching some meme videos on the work computer the other day and he told me that he's pretty sure there's no software installed.

[Verethragna]

My wife works from home on a company pc and they have software installed to monitor their employees. In her department, it's not too bad, but in certain departments, you get written up if you have any sort of background noise or if you're doing something unrelated to your job.

People aren't robots, so you can't expect them to sit still for 8 hours at a time. The people at the top don't care tho, they just want to see results. The whole system needs to be revamped.

[Exalted]

I don't work for an employer right now but I would certainly not respect it.
There are other ways to monitor productivity.

That is exactly how I feel about it, even the basic monitoring capabilities offered by Microsoft's Office 365 are even too much for my taste.

Same here. I just asked my buddy cuz I remember he sent me a pic of him watching some meme videos on the work computer the other day and he told me that he's pretty sure there's no software installed.

Glad to hear that there's no spy/monitoring software installed on your buddy's computer 🙏🏻

[Neon™]

Actually I remember that my mother was complaining that her employer installed some software that does not track you, but it blocks access to various websites such as social media, random chat software like Skype and Whatsapp etc. this was years ago tho and from what I've heard many people in the office complained about it and the employer removed it.

[Exalted]

My wife works from home on a company pc and they have software installed to monitor their employees. In her department, it's not too bad, but in certain departments, you get written up if you have any sort of background noise or if you're doing something unrelated to your job.

People aren't robots, so you can't expect them to sit still for 8 hours at a time. The people at the top don't care tho, they just want to see results. The whole system needs to be revamped.

That's going above and beyond what's necessary, to the point of being scary even. I wouldn't want to work for such a company.

Actually I remember that my mother was complaining that her employer installed some software that does not track you, but it blocks access to various websites such as social media, random chat software like Skype and Whatsapp etc. this was years ago tho and from what I've heard many people in the office complained about it and the employer removed it.

Ah, I've experienced this before, but not due to software installed on the computer but a configuration on the network-level that blocked all social media, content consumption, and other non-work essential sites.

All the better that the employer removed it.

[flavoral]

Yep same here. However, they're only installed on equipment provided by the company not my own equipment.

[Goku]

Nope, if they do such things they need to specify it in the contract.
Otherwise, this would be a huge invasion of your privacy.
And with that you can take them to court and ruin their business or even life.

[Exalted]

Yep same here. However, they're only installed on equipment provided by the company not my own equipment.

Not talking about people's private equipment, but equipment delivered by the employer; even that goes too far for me; What type of spyware does the company install?

[Verethragna]

That's going above and beyond what's necessary, to the point of being scary even. I wouldn't want to work for such a company.


Ah, I've experienced this before, but not due to software installed on the computer but a configuration on the network-level that blocked all social media, content consumption, and other non-work essential sites.

All the better that the employer removed it.

Yeah, it's pretty ridiculous. Especially at a time where parents might not feel comfortable sending their children to school, so background noise may be inevitable.

[flavoral]

Not talking about people's private equipment, but equipment delivered by the employer; even that goes too far for me; What type of spyware does the company install?

Most tools used by companies do similar things, monitor traffic, access to your screen, log searches/logins/etc, track activity time, disabling USB ports, remote access to delete files, logging all files/programs downloaded/uploaded, etc...

[Exalted]

Nope, if they do such things they need to specify it in the contract.
Otherwise, this would be a huge invasion of your privacy.
And with that you can take them to court and ruin their business or even life.

Glad you're spyware free 😁, but yeah, you're right about that. What's your view on such spyware, though?

Yeah, it's pretty ridiculous. Especially at a time where parents might not feel comfortable sending their children to school, so background noise may be inevitable.

Imagine being fired for having too much background noise caused by external factors you do not control or have very little influence on.

Most tools used by companies do similar things, monitor traffic, access to your screen, log searches/logins/etc, track activity time, disabling USB ports, remote access to delete files, logging all files/programs downloaded/uploaded, etc...

Ah, yeah, that's true; most spyware does share those kinds of features.

[Herbert]

The place I worked at prior had TeamViewer active at all time on the work computer, but that's about it.

[Exalted]

The place I worked at prior had TeamViewer active at all time on the work computer, but that's about it.

I don't mind that at all, as the end-user is still in control. We use AnyDesk for remote access, it's not required, but most of us do have it running at all times to help each other quickly. Not for employer spying, no passwords, only acceptance prompt to prevent unauthorized access.