Not just Windows. It's also fairly common for corporate Macs to transmit usage logs, for example using Jamf (Self Service). I'm fine with this, but willing to bet most people aren't fully aware.
Employers who use software to take screenshots of workers’ computers
71–80 of 128 posts
Re: Employers who use software to take screenshots of workers’ computers
#72Earlier quoted context omitted.
This seems pretty easy to game for a software engineer: 1. Write code for the project and record mouse clicks and keystrokes 2. Replay keystrokes at .5 speed inside a mirrored VM a more sophisticated tool could also vary speed and add typos.
Agreed, and bring it on. If this becomes a thing then I'll run a platform you can outsource your busy time in a VM to. This sounds like a ton of fun TBH and makes me think of game automation. Evolving into a game of cat and mouse and giving me an excuse to spend more time messing w/ OpenAI.
This is how the AI takes over, we automate ourselves in silly ways. How do we know we aren't bots doing someone else's work?
Re: Employers who use software to take screenshots of workers’ computers
#73This software is pretty common in the VA space, and Upwork does the same.
Which software do you have in mind?
Re: Employers who use software to take screenshots of workers’ computers
#74Certainly would feel creepy, if I knew it was happening.
But, I would ask, beyond a gut feeling of being creepy, what particular objections does anyone have to this? Do you believe employers are not entitled, either legally or ethically, to do this on their own equipment?
Re: Employers who use software to take screenshots of workers’ computers
#75If it is the computer that owned by the employer, then it is their property, they put all kinds of spyware there, nothing news worthy
But they way you do your job is private, think of it as intellectual property, your know-how, your tricks. In EU this would probably be not allowed. E. G. in Poland it is not allowed to record how teachers teach as it is their IP.
In most of Europe it's rather rooted in privacy of communications as a basic right, plus regulated labour rights that come from unionization.
Re: Employers who use software to take screenshots of workers’ computers
#76Hypothetical question: if your employer offered you the option of extra compensation to install keyloggers/screen capture software on your work computer, and you know that the logs are only being used for aggregate productivity statistics of the firm (de-anonymized), how much do you think would be a fair price?
Assumption: you use a separate computer for your personal computing needs not related to work.
Re: Employers who use software to take screenshots of workers’ computers
#77This makes me really glad that our company policy thus far has been giving employees new machines and have them set them up themselves. I know my work laptop has no spyware because I didn't install any.
And you installed no internal apps at all? How did you get on the corporate Wi-Fi? How do you send print jobs to the office printer?
It's quite rare for company-owned macs to be completely unmanaged. Usually the installation method for common corporate utilities is an MDM solution like Jamf (Self Service), which also transmits logs - for example how long each app was in the foreground[1] and what times you're using your computer[2].
Re: Employers who use software to take screenshots of workers’ computers
#78The trouble with taking screenshots is then you have to employ people to spend their day examining and evaluating the screenshots. Before computers could transcribe voice, the limiting factor of wiretapping is needing some poor schmuck who had to listen to all those utterly banal conversations, which has to be one of the worst jobs ever.
> The trouble with taking screenshots is then you have to employ people to spend their day examining and evaluating the screenshots.
What I don't understand is how they explain that to their customers.
"Yeah, you're not quite getting what you paid for because we spent a portion of it hiring a couple of guys to look at screenshots of our employees computers. Sorry. You can get free screenshots?"
And customers accept this waste of money?
Re: Employers who use software to take screenshots of workers’ computers
#79This makes me really glad that our company policy thus far has been giving employees new machines and have them set them up themselves. I know my work laptop has no spyware because I didn't install any.
And you installed no internal apps at all? How did you get on the corporate Wi-Fi? How do you send print jobs to the office printer? It's quite rare for company-owned macs to be completely unmanaged. Usually the installation method for common corporate utilities is an MDM solution like Jamf (Self Service), which also transmits logs - for example how long each app was in the foreground[1] and what times you're using y…
I installed Norton, which I uninstalled a year or two later when my manager finally got sick and tired of it blocking connections it shouldn't have and uninstalled it.
And I got on the company Wi-Fi with a password. Still do.
Re: Employers who use software to take screenshots of workers’ computers
#80A lot of people are saying "not news worthy," but I think this is a far more useful article than the majority of articles posted here: - It's applicable to most people on this site - It's actionable: be conscious of what you use your company-issued computer for I'm convinced that most people aren't aware that this is a common practice. I've talked to people who think it's not possible or that their company doesn't do…
What I wonder is the best way to determine whether this is going on and if so what it is doing exactly (or in broad terms)
If it's on a computer built for you by work / owned by work, all bets are off. Even if they're not taking screenshots, they can be logging keystrokes or web traffic or anything.
If it's on a device you own:
- Do not install software from your employer that requires admin permissions (i.e., requires typing your password).
- If you're on recent versions of Windows or macOS, various powerful actions like taking screenshots are restricted by default and should at least trigger a permission prompt. You can go to Settings or System Preferences and see which apps have been given permission. If you can, try to install apps only from the OS's app store (because those apps are sandboxed more tightly than traditional desktop apps) or apps from reputable publishers (e.g., it's fine to install Word or Photoshop or whatever, but don't install MyCompany Productivity Helper For Employees).
- Try to get work to give you a corporate device, or a way to work via a web browser or via remote-desktop to a computer on your desk in the closed office or something (and make sure that way doesn't involve installing custom software...).
- If you have to install custom apps, make a separate non-admin user account and don't type your admin password when you're logged into it. Then your company can watch your company work but not your personal stuff.
- If you're installing on a mobile OS, installing apps is generally fine but be very careful about installing a mobile device management (MDM) profile. When you install one, you'll be prompted about what sort of access you're giving your company; make sure you're comfortable with it.
BTW, the same goes for schools - for instance, if your school wants you to install some sort of app for taking remote exams, the purpose of the app is almost certainly to intentionally take screenshots so they know you're not looking at Wikipedia. See if you can install it in a non-admin account, or if your school is issuing laptops, use that (and don't use that laptop for personal stuff).
(Shameless plug: a friend and I run a personal security newsletter and we talked about this a bit last issue: https://looseleafsecurity.com/episodes/newsletter-2020-04-05... and we also have a guide to checking up on MDM on your phone: https://looseleafsecurity.com/episodes/newsletter-2019-12-07...)