COVID-19 has pushed millions of people to work from home, and a flock of companies offering software for tracking workers has swooped in to pitch their goods to employers across the country.
The services often seem harmless. Some companies market their products as “automatic time tracking” or “workplace analytics” software. Some businesses target companies that worry about data leaks or theft of their intellectual property. We’ll refer to these tools as “bossware.” Bossware is designed to assist employers but threatens workers’ privacy and security. It tracks every click and word, gathers information for legal cases secretly, and includes spying features that are excessive for simply managing employees.
This is not acceptable. A home is still a home, even when it is also used as an office. Workers should not be watched without their consent or feel forced to be monitored at home to keep their jobs.
What are they capable of doing?
Bossware usually runs on a computer or smartphone and can access information about everything that occurs on that device. Most bossware tracks almost everything a person does. We examined marketing papers, demonstrations, and customer reviews to understand how these tools function. There are many types of monitoring, so we can’t name them all. Instead, we’ll group these products into general categories.
The broadest and most widespread type of surveillance is “activity monitoring.” This usually means keeping a record of the apps and websites that employees use. It can include who they email or message, like the topic lines and other details, as well as any posts they make on social media. Most bossware tracks how much you type on the keyboard and how often you click the mouse. For instance, many tools provide a minute-by-minute report of your typing and clicking, using that information to measure output. Productivity tracking software gathers data and presents it in easy-to-read charts or graphs, helping managers quickly see what employee surveillance during remote work is doing.
All the products we checked can take regular pictures of each worker’s device, and some even offer live video feeds of their screens. This picture data is usually organized in a timeline, allowing bosses to see what a worker was doing at any moment during the day. Some goods work as keyloggers, tracking every keystroke a worker types, including unsent emails and personal passwords. A couple even let officials jump in and take over remote control of a user’s desktop. These goods often do not separate work activities from personal account details, bank information, or medical records.
Some bossware goes even further by monitoring the physical environment around a worker’s device. Most companies that create apps for mobile devices usually add location tracking with GPS data. Two services, StaffCop Enterprise and CleverControl, allow employers to quietly turn on webcams and microphones on employee devices.
Bossware can be used in two main ways: as an app that workers can see and possibly direct, or as a hidden process that workers cannot notice. Most companies we researched allow employers to run their software in different ways.
Visible tracking
Sometimes, workers can see the software that is monitoring them. They can choose to turn the tracking on or off, often called “clocking in” and “clocking out.” The boss will be able to see if a worker has turned off monitoring. For example, with Controlio, employees can choose to remove specific photos from their work session. If a picture is deleted, the work time connected to it will also be lost. This means workers will only get credit for the time they were being watched.
Workers might be allowed to see some or all of the information collected about them. Crossover, the company that created WorkSmart, describes its product as an exercise tracker for computer work. The method shows workers graphs and charts that explain the results of their own work.
Different bossware companies provide varying degrees of openness to employees. Some companies allow workers to see all or most of the information that their bosses have. Some tools, like Teramind, say they are active and gathering information, but they don’t say exactly what they are collecting. Usually, users might not know what data is being collected unless they ask their boss or closely examine the software.
Hidden surveillance
Most companies that create visible worker tracking software like Controlio also develop tools that aim to remain unnoticed by the people they are watching. Teramind, Time Doctor, StaffCop, and similar programs are types of “bossware.” They are created to be hard to notice and uninstall. On a technical level, these goods are the same as stalkerware. Some companies need employers to set up antivirus software in a certain way before installing their goods. This is so the antivirus won’t find and block the monitoring software.
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