“my Work Gave Us New ‘remote Alarms’ That We Must Carry At All Times”

Many people, if not everyone, value their privacy. However, with existing technology, it’s becoming harder to protect. We might not notice it, but we’re being monitored pretty much everywhere we go—streets, public transport, supermarkets, shopping centers, and even workplaces. And that’s without social media and various apps on our phones and computers.

Recently, redditor Coldbruskeee shared how his privacy was breached in a gas station where he works. The management introduced new “remote alarms” that should be used in an emergency. However, after a closer inspection, the employee found that the device had a camera and an audio recorder in it. Creeped out by the situation, he decided to share it, asking for advice.

With current technology, it’s getting difficult to protect our privacy

Image credits: Engin Akyurt / Pexels (not the actual photo)

This man shared how new devices at work breached his own personal space

Image credits: Coldbruskeee / Reddit 

Later, the author came back with an update

Image credits: Coldbruskeee

Image credits: Towfiqu barbhuiya / Pexels (not the actual photo)

Employee monitoring technologies have become more prevalent in the past few years

As evident in recent data, employee monitoring technologies have become more prevalent in the past few years. Businesses might surveil workers to improve productivity, prevent internal theft, ensure company resources are used appropriately, and have evidence for any potential lawsuits. 

According to the Top10VPN report, searches for employee monitoring software rose by 75% in 2020 compared to 2019 and remained in high demand in 2021 and 2022. Looking into it deeper revealed that 50% of organizations use video surveillance as a way to monitor employees. 

The most popular way to observe workers within American companies in 2023 was by recording the websites they visited. Other ways to do that included app usage, time-tracking, and real-time screen monitoring.

Experts attribute this bigger need for monitoring to the pandemic and the shift to hybrid work, as 85% of employers find it hard to believe that their workers are being productive while working from home. Kathryn Weaver, a partner at the law firm Seyfarth, also mentions the need to guarantee workplace safety and protect the company. 

However, she notes that “it is definitely not new — there’s been surveillance since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, there were punch cards for people to come in and out of factories.” She adds, “But that has increased excessively over the last few years.”

Image credits: fauxels / Pexels (not the actual photo)

All of this is happening with most employees not knowing

Most types of monitoring software now make it possible for employers to see everything on the desktop in real time, from keystrokes to browsing activity, emails, and chat apps. Express VPN has found that 73% of managers take it even further by storing staff calls, emails, or messages to supposedly evaluate their worker’s performance. 

All of this is happening with most employees not knowing, as 62% report not being aware their activities are monitored. 33% of those who know believe that it negatively affects their mental health. They also admit feeling more anxiety and pressure to work longer hours. 

Unfortunately, these aren’t the only downsides to surveilling employees. During the pandemic, employee identity theft and other fraudulent activities were on the rise due to the security gaps that came with hybrid work. “Previously, the edge of the network was very defined within a building, but now you have employees all over the place,” explains Elizabeth Harz, CEO of employee monitoring software Veriato. 

However, not all employees are making peace with being monitored. ExpressVPN research has found that monitored workers were significantly more likely to take unapproved breaks and complete tasks slowly on purpose. 

Most jurisdictions allow employees to monitor work devices, as long as they consent to it. But often, workers are unaware they agreed to it, as employee surveillance is a clause commonly located in the middle of employment contracts. “When you’re looking at your contract, you’re not looking for those clauses — you’re looking at how much am I going to get paid? What benefits do I have? You will probably skip over sections to do with data privacy because they’re not important to you at that point in time,” Weaver said. 

If you’re wondering, yes, there are ways to try and beat managers at their own game. Software called Lazy Work, for example, recreates human activity online. But its creator, Sharma, warned people, saying, “At the end of the day, if you don’t do the work, and even if you use this tool, the work isn’t completed. This is just to give you that buffer time [if you] want to take a break or if you feel like you’ve done enough for today.”

The author provided more information in the comments

He received many reactions from readers and advice on what to do