Is Your Boss Watching You at Work?

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Is Your Boss Watching You at Work? - By: Rose Li, Posted on: 2008-04-29

Does your boss appear to know more about you than can be found
in your personnel files? Do you always have the feeling that
someone is watching everything you do? In short, do you think you
are being illegally spied on by your employer?

If you're working in America then the answer is probably yes, but
before you go running to the lawyers everything they are doing is
probably all supported by law.

An American Management Association survey of 526 managers
found that most managers watched subordinates in some form or
another. An amazing 76% monitoring website visits while 50%
looked at computer files, and a larger percentage of managers
used spy cameras or surveillance equipment to keep track of what
staff were up to while they were at work.

However, the law doesn't look down on this type of behavior in the
US with most workplace privacy laws only asking employers to tell
staff if they are being watched and to refrain from watching them
when they are changing their clothes.

You're lucky if you're working in Britain you have a few more rights
when it comes to your privacy as employers need to get your
consent before they can intercept your emails or carry out internet
surveillance.

Why are employers so afraid of staff's actions while they are at
work?

Most of the time your employers are just worried about you
wasting time at work. However, there are some more serious
reasons for them to watch what you do.

They could be worried about bullying or sexual harassment or poor
treatment of a customer which could lead to loss of business or
even a sexual harassment suit.

How do employers spy on their employees?

There are three main types of surveillance that a manager will use
to keep an eye on staff.

They could carry out surveillance using surveillance equipment, like
spy surveillance cameras, GPS tracking or desktop and internet
monitoring.

Surveillance Camera and Equipment
An increasing number of bosses are shifting the surveillance focus
to the computer and internet but many still prefer to listen into
phone conversations and watch employees on wireless spy
cameras or hidden spy cameras.

There is any number of spy gadgets they can turn to for this
purpose and some they may use are outdoor surveillance cameras,
hidden spy cameras, wireless spy cameras and wired CCTV units.

If they are using a surveillance camera or a hidden spy camera
with sound recording capabilities and they haven't told you about
it they won't be able to use the recording in legal proceedings as
judges will see it as a breach of privacy.

GPS Tracking
If you spend most of your time in a car then your employer may
want to keep tabs on you with a GPS tracker or GPS logger.

A GPS tracker is a little electronic spy gadget that can be either
attached to a car or be held by a person and which keeps a record
of your exact location. Your employer can either buy this spy
gadget or make the spy gadget depending on their technical
aptitude.

Internet and Desktop Surveillance
Employers operating a mainly office-based staff are quickly taking
up this method of worker surveillance, maybe because it is so easy
to do and so hard to detect.

Your boss will have no problems tracking which websites you visit
and what you put into emails if you are using a work internet
server or work computer. It will be almost impossible for you to
spot that you are being monitored too as most surveillance will
happen at the network level.

Employers may choose to use keytrackers or spyware to watch
what you're up to on the computer and, while they are illegal to
use, they are very hard to detect. Luckily they are easy to remove
and simply running a anti-spyware program on your computer will
stop your bosses prying eyes from seeing everything that you are
doing on your computer.

What Can You Do About It?

The best thing that you can do is to realize that your manager will
probably feel that only guilty people will have something to hide
and just to be mindful of your actions at work.

However if you seriously object to having your privacy invaded at
work there are some steps to stop yourself being watched.

If you're dealing with a wireless spy camera, regardless of whether
it is the normal type or a wireless spy camera with a hidden
earphone there are a number of wireless signal blockers available
on the market today which can block the signal from any camera in
a 20 meter range.

If you're on the road a lot and you object to being tracked with a
GPS logging device then there are a number cool spy gadgets for
you too with several personal and automotive GPS blocking
devices being on the market today.

Computer surveillance isn't so easy to deal with, however. Even if
you know that your employer is monitoring your actions on the
computer then there's little you can do about it outside of leaving
all non-work browsing, emails and conversations for outside work
hours.

There are several good anti spyware packages and it may be
worth installing them on your computer from time to time to
prevent your boss from checking on the websites you go to.

So are you being watched? If you're working within the US the
answer is probably yes. However, there's probably nothing you
can do about it unless you want to arouse their suspicions further
and have them asking some hard questions at the next annual
review. By far the best option is to realize that you are probably
being watched and play by the rules while you are at work.

Article Source: http://articlelover.com

Information about the Author: Protect your privacy and security today. Visit www.chinavasion.com for more spy surveillance cameras and cool spy gadgets at China prices with Western quality.

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