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Teleworking: software makes it possible to monitor employees via an interposed screen

In parallel with the establishment of remote work, the movement of employee surveillance is developing through ever more sophisticated tools.

Doctor, Sneek, VeriClock, ActivTrak or even Hubstaff. These names are not yet known to the general public, and yet they are spreading in businesses, especially those that use telecommuting. It is software that monitors, without your knowledge, your activity when you work from home. Two researchers, one from the University of Grenoble-Alpes and the other from Aix-Marseille, have looked into this phenomenon. On the site The Conversation, they assure that in the United States, in the middle of the health crisis, the purchase intentions of these software for remote monitoring of employees have been multiplied by fifty!

Screenshots every 5 minutes

Some software makes it possible to geolocate the employee to verify that he is indeed at his workstation. There are also those who are called the “keyloggers” : tools that trace everything he types on his keyboard. Tarik Chador and Zilacene Dekli, the two researchers, also talk about the tools that make it possible to measure the time spent on the so-called “Productive” and other sites. There is also software that measures connection times on company servers, the number of emails sent and the identity of recipients.

Louder, some also allow you to take a screenshot of the employee’s computer every five or ten minutes. The American site Quora even spotted software that is particularly popular. : Sneek, who takes a picture of the employees every five minutes. The photos then appear on a “Wall of faces”. Officially, it’s about making it easier to stay in touch with everyone, since you only need to click on a face to start a video conversation. Business Insider magazine claims that Sneek’s sales have increased tenfold since the start of the epidemic. The two French researchers recall that all this must have been brought to the attention of staff representatives. Above all, any such system must be proportionate and justified. One thing is certain, the employer cannot implement them alone in his corner.

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