Your boss knows everything you do, like how many e-mails you sent, the content of messages, visited websites or with who were you talking on the phone/messengers. Even if you kept something secret, it could leak out when you return your work phone.
So, your boss is calling you for a face-to-face conversation? He knows. Everything.
When you start work, how often do you write private emails – their content and recipients, when you browse the Internet as well as how much time you spend on the messengers.
Surveillance techniques in the office
The technology provides software that helps users manage the network. This solution gradually becomes standard in every company (the small ones included). By using another’s computer screen, administrators can casually observe (via local network/the Internet) the device on which the program was installed.
The tool facility is based on solving problems remotely, like installing drivers and printers or reinstalling the computer system. However, the software also allows for unsupervised surveillance.
Moreover, programs like Statlook, Aero Admin, Oko Szefa or Wirtualny Nadzór use snooping techniques to record worker’s actions. Here’s how the applications work:
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register input data from the keyboard
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take screenshots at intervals
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save launched programs and visited websites
They are available in both free and paid versions, the installation and use are equally simple. The snooping tool lets employers gather information about the worker that can embarrass him/her.\
Secrets revealed at low cost
The market is filled with snooping programs downloadable on smartphones and employers are willing to purchase them. The program allows to manage up to thousands of devices at once, regardless of the operating system.For instance, SpyPhone software supervises the activity of smartphone user, without his knowledge. It spies and collects the data from text messages and communicators (i.a. Messenger, Skype, WhatsApp), phone calls or even captures passwords.
Additionally, the tool does screen-shots and can find the GPS signal of the phone without much effort. For example, the extracted data can serve your employer as the evidence when you said that you work from home but you are not there. Furthermore, spyware applications can eavesdrop in two ways: by recording the talks one can listen after logging in or by using another device to secretly connect to conversations.
Office IT specialists set work phones up before they are handed to the employee. The spying tool is installed on the device and configured through a web panel (by other remote computers or telephones).
What is more, monitoring the app works on the smartphone in a hidden way, thus the user can’t launch or control it.
Supervision after parting
The use of such techniques is against the law, however, the employer has the right to check how the assigned work is executed and the equipment exploited (by browsing e-mail history or phone’s content). In other words, the executive is only obligated to inform the staff about that fact.
Paranoia or double standards? It is all the same. After you parted from the former company you were obligated to return the work phone. The data was erased, but are you sure no one will try to retrieve it?
AJ
