Smile: you're being filmed - surveillance apps are growing in popularity

 "When the pandemic started and some employees started working from home, some managers were worried about their productivity. In the absence of ways to ensure that people are actually working at home, organizations installed tracking programs on employees' computers. Their popularity in the United States of America (USA) and the United Kingdom (UK) is growing.

 

    Researchers say that this issue will become more relevant in the future, as the same apps are often used to measure not only productivity, but also the psychological well-being of employees.

 

    Employee tracking has been part of the work of certain professions for some time, from office access cards that allow people to see when they come and go to call centers that use recorded conversations for training purposes, the BBC writes.

    

    The British public broadcaster says the pandemic has increased the use of employee monitoring apps. in 2021 data from a survey of 2,209 UK workers showed that 60% of them thought they had been monitored by their current or last employer. in 2020 there were 53% of those who thought so.

 

    US employee monitoring has doubled to 60% in mid-sized and large companies compared to 2020. March Brian Krop, vice president of Gartner's Group, which conducted this study, predicts that the share of monitored employees will inevitably reach 70% within two years.

 

    Information Collected by Apps 

 

    Surveillance equipment is installed on work computers and can monitor the movements of the computer mouse, take screenshots, and even secretly turn on the computer camera. Often, such programs work without informing the employee, which means that he does not know that both the work on the computer and the person himself are being monitored. And this can lead to legal problems.

 

    The BBC describes the experience of a graphic designer who works from home. She says that surveillance programs running on her computer send screenshots to the company she works for and track which windows are open in the browser. The specialist says that she understands the employer's concern about the productivity of employees who are at home, but according to her, productivity is negatively affected by the apps themselves, because they slow down the computer, and it is stressful for the designer to watch a few minutes of YouTube video even during her lunch break. The woman fears that such data could someday be used as an argument to fire her.

 

    Another employee in the financial sector says he has come to terms with the idea of ​​being watched, especially now that it is being done more subtly – the man says he used to have heat and motion sensors installed under his desk.

 

    Long-term spying outcomes

 

    As the number of employees who are monitored by employers increases, so does mutual distrust. In a study of 2,000 US workers, 59% said they felt stressed and anxious knowing their employer was watching their work on a computer. The most frequently mentioned factors for such employees' well-being were their constant consideration of whether they are currently being monitored, the pressure to work more and take fewer rest breaks.

 

    B. Kropas says that the biggest damage is caused by employers who hide the fact of monitoring employees.

 

    "Employee anxiety about surveillance can be reduced by openly explaining why it is needed and how the information is collected."

 

    If employees learn about being monitored through secondary sources, it creates and escalates the problem. Then people believe that the employer is trying to "catch" them, says B. Kropas.

 

    Companies that use employee tracking apps to support both productivity and psychological well-being are also a concern, he said.

 

    "It's basically the same data collection. Still, mouse movements are tracked, facial expressions are then interpreted. It is only then that the data is viewed as information that helps to determine whether the employee is not overworked and does not experience the risk of burnout", explains B. Kropas.

 

    According to him, in the future, representatives of employers and employees should clearly define the limits of monitoring. They would likely become one of the criteria by which people choose a workplace, and greater monitoring from the employer's side would mean a higher salary as compensation for the inconveniences that come with it."