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Ask HN: Employee surveillance at your work place?
HN,
I've seen both ends of the spectrum but I wanted to know what the consensus with the HN crowd was:
Does your work place monitor employee activity?
Does it extend to their personal devices?
How about off work activity?
How extensive are we talking about?
Can you mention your company's name?
To me privacy is one of the most valuable "perks" I look for in a job. I will gladly exchange privacy for health insurance and 401k. I've seen companies where privacy is extremely valued,but I've also seen the other end,I just don't know what is normal anymore.
Bonus question: I've seen contractors' personal phones monitored because "they use it for work too.",is that common?
- dizzystar 8y agoIn the US, a contractor is strictly BYOD... If I'm using a company phone, computer, or anything else, I fully expect that everything is monitored and locked down. Add your email and other login stuff at your own peril. Be wary of your browser history. I don't care what a company says. If I'm working for them, my personal life is my own personal life. I don't discuss where I work with anyone that is online. I definitely don't mention it on social media, and I flatly refuse to give my social media accounts to any place I apply to. I go home and do nothing related to work, and all my social media revolves around promoting things that do little to betray who I am. Here's the thing. An employer may say "do whatever, we don't care," but it only takes a coworker to see you made an off-color joke or, by horror, said something that isn't along the generally accepted marching of everyone in the company. Office politics seeps into everything, and while the company itself isn't monitoring you, your coworkers are. This isn't malicious, but a slip of the keyboard can have ugly consequences. It's my personal responsibility to protect myself at all times.
- badrabbit 8y agoI focus on what I can control. It's not a good feeling to have your off work and personal activity monitored (by superiors not colleagues). Anyway,thanks for replying , I will take your advice seriously.