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What do you think of corporate surveillance?

C

ChallVin

Lurker
Today, workplace monitoring is commonplace at nearly every company. Meanwhile, kinds of monitoring tools have exploded as well. Companies monitor employees' phone calls, voice mail, smart-phone usage, whereabouts of employees during working hours. Proponents of employee monitoring consider that it is good for business. Employers want their employees to be more productive. They worry that their employees might divulges the confidential information to others or waste plenty of time on texting. However, the opponents argue that corporate surveillance will invade people's privacy.
Running a small business, I'd like to have your suggestions. What do you think of corporate surveillance?
 
I own my own small gym and am the only employee at the moment, but I've worked for a lot of other people before getting here, and I can tell you I think there is a fine line between employees screwing around, and having people doing something to keep them busy, which I have never been a proponent of. I think that too much monitoring and "surveillance" makes people feel un-trusted and does not promote a healthy work environment and no one likes to feel that they aren't trusted. I'd say go with "standard" precautions like the cash box and maybe any valuable resources you have at the work place but not overdo it as no one likes to work for a tyrant and it's not the best way to get the most out of your employees either!
 
I'm old school personally: trust me to do the job or don't hire me. Monitor or micromanage me and I'll tell you to what you can do with yourself. But of course I'm fortunate in being able to make that choice.

But you'll have gathered from that that I personally have a visceral dislike of such practices, and would find them deeply demotivating.
 
Hi ChallViin I've moved your thread into the Lounge from Android Applications, which is a more appropriate forum for this subject. Any problems PM me. :)

This might be a touchy subject, so let's keep it cool please.
 
There is definitely a fine line here. Nobody likes being spied on or micromanaged, however your employer's equipment and resources are not the correct venue for you to support your porn habit or do your day trading. To avoid the appearance of being spies, a company can utilize a Net Nanny type firewall application, but sometimes these can be more intrusive than helpful. I search the internet a lot in my line of work and I am constantly having to call our IT Gurus and ask that a page be added to the "allowed" list. I have also had to call them back on occasion to tell them to put it back on the blacklist.

Our facility has cameras all over the place, originally placed because of the area of town that we are in and the size of the facility. It helps find and remove trespassers that sneak into the facility. RFID badges and automated gates have helped with this but it still occurs on occasion. We have also used the camera system to find an O'possum, raccoon or even a deer that has managed their way into the building. (Oddly this happens more often than one would think.) We have also, on occasion, used these same cameras to identify employees that don't seem to think that they should actually have to work 8 hours to get paid for it. Is that spying, I don't feel like it is.

This is about as far as our management has decided that they want to go with surveillance. I have contracted with other facilities that are much more "anal" about this type of thing.

Overall, my opinion is, you signed a contract to work at your workplace. In doing so, you agreed to basically anything legal that your employer chooses to do to your environment. I work for an industry that is in its sunset years and I doubt will make it another 30 years before be eradicated, but the competition is fierce. There are actually corporate spies and they exist in real life, not just on the prime time shows. We had one escorted out by the police not long ago. They were hired into a management slot and after a couple of months began downloading items onto a thumb drive before leaving for the day. This was trapped by one of the surveillance applications used on our system.

Anyway, just my thoughts. In today's economy, we should be thankful to have a job and within reason put up with the employer's quirks.
 
If you are using their equipment, they have the right especially if it's their cell on their network and you need a security clearance. BYOD, you might have to sign something to use your device.

If they want to monitor your personal phone, Facebook page, etc - that's none of their business.

Isn't just trustworthy - some employers want a homogenized work force. Means no one goes to Burning Man on vacation or have other weird hobbies. If you don't do what everyone else does, you're screwed.
 
I spent 15 almost 16 years working in the surveillance industry in Las Vegas and surveillance in casinos is mandate by law. 99.999% of the time if you are in Las Vegas you will be on some camera.
Are there cameras in bathrooms or hotel rooms, no there isn't and if there are they are illegal and can cause serious problems for surveillance staff and casinos. Back in the early 2000's the now closed hard Rock hotel and casino got in huge trouble for recording sexual acts in a club.
The casino industry in Nevada is over seeing by the Nevada Gaming Control board (GCB)and the law enforcement side is the Nevada gaming control enforcement division.
Agents from the GCB show up at the hard Rock one night about a gambling dispute, on duty agents pull up the requested video (camera was supposed to be train on a table) instead its aimed into a club or a bar where some patrons were engaging in sexual activity. Long story extremely short.
The entire surveillance department is fired, along with a dozen other employees, hard Rock gets nailed with a million dollar fine or near it.
For a year after it, the hard Rock is under the magnifying glass.
Should you be worried that your every move is going to be tracked every time you go to a casino???
Technically it can be, but the reality is before the corona virus hit and torpedo the casino industry thousands and thousands of people walked through the casino and maybe one or two out every hundred or so caught my attention.
What gets you watch in casinos?? Alot of things
The #1 thing , "something isn't right"
 
I spent 15 almost 16 years working in the surveillance industry in Las Vegas and surveillance in casinos is mandate by law. 99.999% of the time if you are in Las Vegas you will be on some camera.
Are there cameras in bathrooms or hotel rooms, no there isn't and if there are they are illegal and can cause serious problems for surveillance staff and casinos. Back in the early 2000's the now closed hard Rock hotel and casino got in huge trouble for recording sexual acts in a club.
The casino industry in Nevada is over seeing by the Nevada Gaming Control bo
 
i have friends who used to work at California Pizza Kitchen and they have cameras everywhere in the kitchen. they have fired people for various things caught on camera from folks taking food to employees taking a quick smoke break when not reporting doing so. corporate would call in and criticize the way a certain was made!!!! when i was working as a cook, i made sure to stay away from CPK as a job. no need for big brother looking over me....no thanx!!!!
 
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