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Meta workers can opt out of being tracked at work up to 30 min

bbc.com

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Re: Meta workers can opt out of being tracked at work up to 30 min

#521

Post by shimman »

sidcool wrote: post #446
shimman wrote: post #415

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How can you say the smart people haven't already left? The only people comfortable working at Meta are comfortable with a company that enabled then profited off a genocide, has mass teenage girl misery machines, invested in companies whose products caused users to kill themselves, worked on systems that helped erode democracy across the world. I'm sorry but if you're at meta it's not because you are smart, it's becau…

I understand your point of view. It's not possible to execute a high growth company like Meta without extremely smart, high IQ individuals. And they are OK with the harm Meta is doing. My point was that Meta is bad, but the perception that it routinely abuses employees is misplaced.

I'm not saying that at all, I'm saying that people purposely choosing to work at Meta are evil individuals that deserve public scorn and mocking.

Re: Meta workers can opt out of being tracked at work up to 30 min

#522

Post by dyauspitr »

everdrive wrote: post #372
ryandrake wrote: post #335

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Every CxO on the planet is foaming at the mouth now, because they see AI as the way they can finally cast tech into that sea of $40-60k jobs. I knew a (jerk) founder who would openly grumble about how expensive tech talent was and how "one day, when tech cools off, you guys are going all to be paid like the guys on the manufacturing floor..." Typically they're not so mask-off but I bet a lot of them think like that.

Interesting that they never seem to think the executive suite is overpaid -- for some reasons it's always everyone _else_ who is overpaid.

This talking point is common but really a non issue. At Google for instance, executive pay makes up less than 0.3% of operating expenses compared to 30% of that being for non executive compensation. You can’t pay for a damn thing by taking that down to 0.2% or whatever you’re asking for.

Re: Meta workers can opt out of being tracked at work up to 30 min

#523

Post by reactordev »

lovich wrote: post #520
baliex wrote: post #427

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Truly terrifying. I'll admit I was expecting one of the near-15.62 options to be "acceptable". How wrong I was; I should have seen that coming. As one of the below comments says, you just don't know what level of snooping is going on. If you're reading this $CEO, hi!

If you can meet their goals, that just means there is more they can squeeze out of you. The incentive structure for our corporations means there is literally never enough and they will always demand more.

This. All KPI’s are meant to move the carrot just beyond reach.

Re: Meta workers can opt out of being tracked at work up to 30 min

#524

Post by BrenBarn »

zeroonetwothree wrote: post #430
lukan wrote: post #303

No one mentioned Orwell so far? Well, in 1984 the protagonist learns after a while, that inner party members had the amazing perk of being able to turn off the mandatory surveillance screen for up to 30 minutes. But I guess in this case the workers still will be tracked by the usual Meta tracking that applies to everyone surfing the internet.

“It is unwise even for members of the Inner Party to turn off the telescreen for more than half an hour.”

Heh, came here looking to see if anyone had made this reference yet. Mega disturbing.

Re: Meta workers can opt out of being tracked at work up to 30 min

#525

Post by hgoel »

harimau777 wrote: post #277
hgoel wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I see all this complaining from people in big tech nowadays, but I can't help but wonder, why act like the industry is just big tech? There are so many small companies, research groups etc that can pay a livable wage (just not as exuberant as big tech) without the ethical scruples, while still posing challenging technical problems.

A lot of those companies are located in the middle of nowhere or don't make enough for you to live in a city. If you are a minority in America, living outside of a city represents a MASSIVE hit to quality of life.

I work at one such research lab, right next to a very big city, with the ability to commute from said city. Similarly there are several in California, located near universities etc.

Re: Meta workers can opt out of being tracked at work up to 30 min

#526

Post by reactordev »

ethbr1 wrote: post #500
mystraline wrote: post #462

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or, Anduril. All the techbros love them some Lord of the Rings.

> All the techbros love them some Lord of the Rings. While being completely oblivious to the literary themes. But as the meme goes, tech bro philosophy is just sophomore know-it-all-shallowly-ism. Because reading deeply would require spending more time, which is a well-known anti-pattern.

I don’t believe any of them have actually read it, but rather watched the WETA production on film.

Re: Meta workers can opt out of being tracked at work up to 30 min

#527

Post by spacechild1 »

josh_carterPDX wrote: post #463
LucidLynx wrote: post #22

I have a serious question to anyone working at Meta and reading this: HOW can you still work at this company!? Why don't you quit this very toxic company, and start working at another place or even on your own? I genuinely don't understand... Let just Meta die!

This is a tough one because I've been there. I have worked for orgs that don't align with my values, but when you're in there you aren't thinking that you are contributing to the absolutely horrible crap they're doing. You just keep telling yourself, "I just do this one little thing." And that's enough to convince yourself that it's ok. You're keeping your values and morals intact. Saying that, I'm sure if more of th…

> You just keep telling yourself, "I just do this one little thing." And that's enough to convince yourself that it's ok.

This is how I would have imagined most of these people think (except for the true sociopaths who just don't care).

> Saying that, I'm sure if more of them had options they'd jump in a heartbeat.

Are you saying the people who have been working for Meta had no other options? That would be a ridiculous claim.

The point is that there have been many, many options and yet they chose to interview for Meta and take the offer.

Re: Meta workers can opt out of being tracked at work up to 30 min

#528

Post by stephc_int13 »

There is not enough pushback against this.

I don't think anyone is fully comfortable with it but it is considered "standard practice".

It wasn't such a huge issue until recently because processing all of this was a burden, but obviously this can be automated very well now.

The trend is genuinely dystopian.

Re: Meta workers can opt out of being tracked at work up to 30 min

#529

Post by reactordev »

crispyambulance wrote: post #20

It's always been hard to know the extent of how draconian tracking actually is (IT pros tend to not talk about it much). In the US, there's the expectation that when you use an employer-provided device that any and all activity on it can be fully monitored/recorded and used against the employee for any reason. In practice, however, few people worry about reasonable amounts web-surfing, being on hacker-news or doing l…

If you touch it, in any way, it’s probably tracking

Re: Meta workers can opt out of being tracked at work up to 30 min

#530

Post by JambalayaJimbo »

thinkingtoilet wrote: post #477
staplung wrote: post #412

Reminds me of one of the more brilliant passages in Snow Crash , describing work in "Fed Land"... ''' Y.T's mom pulls up the new memo, checks the time, and starts reading it. The estimated reading time is 15.62 minutes. Later, when Marietta does her end-of-day statistical roundup, sitting in her private office at 9:00 P.M., she will see the name of each employee and next to it, the amount of time spent reading this m…

This is the reality for many low wage workers today. Amazon drivers are on strict schedules and are watched at all times. This isn't fantasy, this is reality. It just hasn't gotten up the chain to effect the average HN reader yet.

Yep. I was timed when working at the drive through at a fast food restaurant.
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