A Company Proposal

owen2433 · 23 Sep 2008 at 13:48

A Company i work for is introducing pc monitoring for all its clients. So everything they do, key stroke, been on gets recorded. The only down thing is that... They're not letting their employees know. So when it gets installed, they won't know theyre being watched.

Is that legal?

Isn't it privacy issue? At least for them to know theyre being monitored?

Russinating · 23 Sep 2008 at 13:50

Sounds like a breach of privacy. Surely they're allowed to use PC's during lunch break so they could be recording personal passwords etc?

Adsta · 23 Sep 2008 at 13:51

I wouldnt have thought so since its the companies system the indivdual is using.
If you do any personal stuff on a company computer system thats your own call. It should just be for work

owen2433 · 23 Sep 2008 at 13:53

I thought it would be a hassle, as most employees would be working and have no idea they are being monitored. I wouldn't like that

Fisk · 23 Sep 2008 at 13:54

Yes, they need to let all staff know. I'm not sure how legal key logging is either, that is if employees are allowed to use the PCs for non-work related things during breaks.

Adsta said:
I wouldnt have thought so since its the companies system the indivdual is using.

True, but they would have signed a contract upon employment, the new monitoring regulation won't be in the old contract. (Where I used to work employees have to sign a terms of use document for PCs & internet).

owen2433 · 23 Sep 2008 at 13:55

In the handbook it states only work related IT stuff during work hours, not during lunch

Ethics · 23 Sep 2008 at 13:58

It depends what your policies say that you give to your user, it might have already been provisioned for and there is a clause in there that states they might do this?

I presume it's to catch those that do f all all day except facebook and expect to get paid for it.

With this you have problems though, securing of captured data, whether it's covered under the data protection act etc. etc.

I don't know if you have to inform them from a legal perspective, but from a moral and sensible one, warn them it is being implemented.

owen2433 · 23 Sep 2008 at 13:59

I've been told not to tell the employees, and that when i thought, it might be a issue legally?

Adsta · 23 Sep 2008 at 13:59

Fisk said:
Yes, they need to let all staff know. I'm not sure how legal key logging is either, that is if employees are allowed to use the PCs for non-work related things during breaks.

True, but they would have signed a contract upon employment, the new monitoring regulation won't be in the old contract. (Where I used to work employees have to have to sign a terms of use document for PCs & internet).

Aye mines the same have to sign a terms and conditions to use the network.

I would have just assumed most terms and conditions would state it is for work purpose. Even if it doesnt state you cannont use it for personal use, It still doesnt state you can use it for personal use. Therefore i would assume that the any monitoring would be purely looking at your work. In which case it really shouldnt matter

owen2433 · 23 Sep 2008 at 14:01

So they can do it without having to tell the employees?

bledd · 23 Sep 2008 at 14:02

in my last job, if a member of staff was 'under watch' their manager could request their mailbox be added to their account

-so they could monitor every email, when i said "isn't that illegal" they said something along the lines of, they were using it as proof/evidence that they're slacking..

(could see why they'd do it)

just seems a bit morally wrong

knowledge123 · 23 Sep 2008 at 14:03

If possible, get Firefox + keyscrambler. It encrypts all keystrokes.

I wouldn't have thought it was legal, personally, without it being mentioned in their contract or similar, and seeing as they are just putting this in place, they'd have to re-do all the contracts et al, wouldn't they ?

Ethics · 23 Sep 2008 at 14:05

knowledge123 said:
If possible, get Firefox + keyscrambler. It encrypts all keystrokes.

I wouldn't have thought it was legal, personally, without it being mentioned in their contract or similar, and seeing as they are just putting this in place, they'd have to re-do all the contracts et al, wouldn't they ?

Subverting the system is not the answer to his question or the underlying problem though.

And in most eyes it would be an admission of guilt.

Adsta · 23 Sep 2008 at 14:05

owen2433 said:
So they can do it without having to tell the employees?

I think you would need to carefully read the terms and conditions in the handbook you was talking about.
See if it states anywhere that you can use the system in your lunch hour (or what have you) for personal use.

For instance for me a lot of websites are banned to use. But also we are not 100% allowed to use any web-based email accounts on the system.

owen2433 · 23 Sep 2008 at 14:05

Probably, they already monitor the outlook emails by having the MD as the reviewer so he can look at the emails on every employee, no idea why but just wants to for every employee. But now wants to implement the monitoring system and never wants to tell the employee's i think its morally wrong

helmet · 23 Sep 2008 at 14:07

bledd. said:
in my last job, if a member of staff was 'under watch' their manager could request their mailbox be added to their account

Happens all the time, it typically needs HR approval.
In call centers they have call stat reports that detail every single thing done with the phone, down to the last second.

Not sure about the legality of the situation but I doubt the company would go to the lengths to price it up for install and tell the employees unless they had checked out the legal standpoint.

Adsta · 23 Sep 2008 at 14:09

Morally yea it is proberbly wrong.
But as for legally. If you do say anything to the other employees and they raise and uproar your boss is going to know who told them. Might put you in a situation you dont really want to be in.

I must say though i personally dont see the moral dilema here. If you are using a company system and are only supposed to be doing company work. Whats the problem ?

Meh maybe its just me

Neodite · 23 Sep 2008 at 14:13

Wouldn't reading somone else's emails be like operning there post? Seems the law dont care about the online world.

My company monitors me, but only what sites i visit, and the told me before they did this, and the PC policy is simple, no rasicum descimination etc. etc. no pron

and dont let it interfere with work.

I guess my place is pretty slack tho?

Abraham · 23 Sep 2008 at 14:19

Neodite said:
Wouldn't reading somone else's emails be like operning there post? Seems the law dont care about the online world.

My company monitors me, but only what sites i visit, and the told me before they did this, and the PC policy is simple, no rasicum descimination etc. etc. no pron and dont let it interfere with work.

I guess my place is pretty slack tho?

I'm not certain but if you got sent post to work then would it initially be the company's property before you opened it.
It would be illegal for them to access your personal email, but your work one is fair game (within some clouded regulation). I really cant see keylogging being allowed especially without them knowing, it is usual policy that no one can know your password even the IT department, but if keylogging is in place then they would be able to... It causes a much bigger security risk than it could possibly be preventing

owen2433 · 23 Sep 2008 at 14:19

Meh, i have to keep my mouth shut now, i personally feel that its wrong