Your employer is watching you. And there’s nothing you can do about it.
Corporate surveillance technology is getting stealthier, more advanced and more widespread. Sixty-six percent of employers monitor their worker’s computers on a daily basis.
The reason: more employees are using office computers to shop, pay bills and surf the internet; some are viewing porn (City of Richmond employees, for example) or other illicit material, while others are simply wasting time.Called cyberslacking, the trend is disheartening to employers who pay people to work, not surf the internet. It’s also losing them money.
In the United States, workplace internet misuse costs US businesses more than $85 billion annually, according to employee Internet management software company Websense Inc.
Of course, employees have always found ways to fritter away time. Before computers, there was just plain chatting. Or napping under the desk.
But now companies can track their slackers with far more detail than in the past. Thank technology. Because there is no single privacy law that exists in the United States (rather, there is a myriad of state and federal laws and regulations), companies are usually well within their rights to monitor their employees.
Todd Whitlock, owner of The HelpDesk Company, a Richmond-based IT management team that works mostly with small businesses, said that corporate surveillance is far more prevalent among big companies.
“Small businesses don’t want to invade privacy, and they’re afraid to see what’s going on,” he said.
But Whitlock stressed that smaller businesses need to monitor their employees just like the big boys. Otherwise, they could end up losing gobs of money.
“I would say that about half of all small business workers use their computer for personal affairs when they’re supposed to be working.”
There are some legitimate reasons to act like Big Brother. When workers surf the net, they can unknowingly stockpile tons of files called Spyware and Adware. These files are installed surreptitiously onto a user’s hard drive (or network) and can track data, install software, and even change computer settings. Over time, these files build up, resulting in a slow or buggy computer. The worker’s employer must then bring the virus-laden computer to specialists in order to get it back in good condition.
There’s a number of ways employers can watch over their workers.
Programs such as EnCase Enterprise security software constantly scan every packet of data that comes and goes on a company’s network. They search for suspicious activity, such as patterns or keywords, and then flag anything threatening.
In just the past few years, programs like these have become more streamlined and automated, making them more attractive to business owners who don’t have a huge budget for security.
Sixty-six percent of employers monitor internet connections, according to the 2007 Electronic Monitoring and Surveillance Survey from the American Management Association and The ePolicy Institute. Forty-five percent track content, keystrokes, and time spent at the computer. Another 43% store and review computer files, and 65% use software to block connections to restricted websites.
E-mail gets tracked too. A little less than half (43%) of companies monitor e-mails. Of those, 40% assign an individual to manually read e-mails; the rest are monitored automatically by computer programs.
And phone lines aren’t safe, either. Forty-five percent of companies monitor the time spent on the phone and the numbers called. Another 16% actually record phone conversations and 9% check voice messages left for employees.
But don’t think that companies aren’t keeping a literal eye on you, as well. Closed circuit TV is another tool used by businesses to track workplace behavior. Nearly half (48%) use video surveillance, but it is mainly used to counter theft and violence. Only 7% use the cameras to follow employees while they work.
And these aren’t the only ways that employers monitor what workers do on the job.
Companies have begun tracking workers with Global Positioning Systems (GPS), scanning fingerprints and eyes, and even sending out private investigators in order to determine what people are doing when they’re supposed to be working.
Despite cries for privacy, the truth of the matter is that corporate surveillance is here to stay. And there’s one major reason.
“Companies who use computer monitoring solutions are generally more successful than those who don’t,” Whitlock said.
Alec Depcrynski is a BizSense staff writer. He encourages you to read BizSense at work, and to forward links to your coworkers and friends. [email protected]
Your employer is watching you. And there’s nothing you can do about it.
Corporate surveillance technology is getting stealthier, more advanced and more widespread. Sixty-six percent of employers monitor their worker’s computers on a daily basis.
The reason: more employees are using office computers to shop, pay bills and surf the internet; some are viewing porn (City of Richmond employees, for example) or other illicit material, while others are simply wasting time.Called cyberslacking, the trend is disheartening to employers who pay people to work, not surf the internet. It’s also losing them money.
In the United States, workplace internet misuse costs US businesses more than $85 billion annually, according to employee Internet management software company Websense Inc.
Of course, employees have always found ways to fritter away time. Before computers, there was just plain chatting. Or napping under the desk.
But now companies can track their slackers with far more detail than in the past. Thank technology. Because there is no single privacy law that exists in the United States (rather, there is a myriad of state and federal laws and regulations), companies are usually well within their rights to monitor their employees.
Todd Whitlock, owner of The HelpDesk Company, a Richmond-based IT management team that works mostly with small businesses, said that corporate surveillance is far more prevalent among big companies.
“Small businesses don’t want to invade privacy, and they’re afraid to see what’s going on,” he said.
But Whitlock stressed that smaller businesses need to monitor their employees just like the big boys. Otherwise, they could end up losing gobs of money.
“I would say that about half of all small business workers use their computer for personal affairs when they’re supposed to be working.”
There are some legitimate reasons to act like Big Brother. When workers surf the net, they can unknowingly stockpile tons of files called Spyware and Adware. These files are installed surreptitiously onto a user’s hard drive (or network) and can track data, install software, and even change computer settings. Over time, these files build up, resulting in a slow or buggy computer. The worker’s employer must then bring the virus-laden computer to specialists in order to get it back in good condition.
There’s a number of ways employers can watch over their workers.
Programs such as EnCase Enterprise security software constantly scan every packet of data that comes and goes on a company’s network. They search for suspicious activity, such as patterns or keywords, and then flag anything threatening.
In just the past few years, programs like these have become more streamlined and automated, making them more attractive to business owners who don’t have a huge budget for security.
Sixty-six percent of employers monitor internet connections, according to the 2007 Electronic Monitoring and Surveillance Survey from the American Management Association and The ePolicy Institute. Forty-five percent track content, keystrokes, and time spent at the computer. Another 43% store and review computer files, and 65% use software to block connections to restricted websites.
E-mail gets tracked too. A little less than half (43%) of companies monitor e-mails. Of those, 40% assign an individual to manually read e-mails; the rest are monitored automatically by computer programs.
And phone lines aren’t safe, either. Forty-five percent of companies monitor the time spent on the phone and the numbers called. Another 16% actually record phone conversations and 9% check voice messages left for employees.
But don’t think that companies aren’t keeping a literal eye on you, as well. Closed circuit TV is another tool used by businesses to track workplace behavior. Nearly half (48%) use video surveillance, but it is mainly used to counter theft and violence. Only 7% use the cameras to follow employees while they work.
And these aren’t the only ways that employers monitor what workers do on the job.
Companies have begun tracking workers with Global Positioning Systems (GPS), scanning fingerprints and eyes, and even sending out private investigators in order to determine what people are doing when they’re supposed to be working.
Despite cries for privacy, the truth of the matter is that corporate surveillance is here to stay. And there’s one major reason.
“Companies who use computer monitoring solutions are generally more successful than those who don’t,” Whitlock said.
Alec Depcrynski is a BizSense staff writer. He encourages you to read BizSense at work, and to forward links to your coworkers and friends. [email protected]