3 ms·

Is the surveillance part the problem or the scoring of productivity? I am pretty sure most employers have the ability to log information like what was mentioned

Is the surveillance part the problem or the scoring of productivity? I am pretty sure most employers have the ability to log information like what was mentioned here. It's just that they don't use it for measuring productivity due to the obvious flaw that it can be hacked if employees know about it. Most companies use this type of information only when the employee is suspect of leaks or misconduct eg Google has used logged data as evidence against Anthony Levandowski of the data he transferred. Slack gives administrators most of the data for the type it was mentioned in the article. Are you sure that your employer hasn't installed any custom software/antivirus in your work device? Likely they have.

asveikau 6y ago
> It's just that they don't use it for measuring productivity due to the obvious flaw that it can be hacked if employees know about it. I would think the bigger issue is that there isn't any basis to say that the metrics collected are a realistic capture of productivity. Measuring stuff and understanding measurements is hard, and you don't want to make big and consequential decisions on a bullshit number.
isodev 6y ago
I’m absolutely sure. This practice is illegal in the EU. You can’t log stuff unless you get explicit permission from the employee, listing the exact metrics and purposes of the data logged (also things like where and how long it will be stored). It’s baffling that Microsoft thought this was a good idea in the first place.
- Mauricebranagh 6y ago
  Yes with all the attention being paid to big tech - this is just asking to be thrown under the bus by Amazon and Google, face book etc "we are just honest business man - just look at the extremely creepy shit Microsoft get up to"
- LdSGSgvupDV 6y ago
  If they put it into contract, would it be legal? (I'm not in EU.)
crpatino 6y ago
> Most companies use this type of information only when the employee is suspect of leaks or misconduct This opinion based on what? You may not be aware of this management theory called Taylorism, taught around the world in every MBA and undergraduate business program, which spouses tight measurement of worker productivity as a way to achieve "efficiency" (not the naive engineering definition of efficiency you are thinking about, but the maximization of profits/revenue per monetary unit spent on payroll). While it is not the only, or even the most popular, management doctrine around, it is far from uncommon. The shortest stint on my career was at a certain Fortune 500 company. There I was expected to chronometer my coffee and bathroom breaks, as well as all other activities I undertook while on company premises. This as an IT worker (tech support, required programming but no full software development), which is a sort of protected species in terms of the workforce. Since this was self reporting, there was a lot of wiggle room; and I'd even say most of it was not due to employee dishonesty but just fatigue. It is hard to remember to keep score of the exact times when you start any given task when you have urgent and actually productive duties to fulfill, so sometimes you had to give an estimation. But I am sure that company would jump right at the chance to use Office 365's surveillance tools to refine their record keeping, and maybe root out some lying slackers as the icing of the cake.

asveikau 6y ago

> It's just that they don't use it for measuring productivity due to the obvious flaw that it can be hacked if employees know about it. I would think the bigger issue is that there isn't any basis to say that the metrics collected are a realistic capture of productivity. Measuring stuff and understanding measurements is hard, and you don't want to make big and consequential decisions on a bullshit number.

isodev 6y ago

I’m absolutely sure. This practice is illegal in the EU. You can’t log stuff unless you get explicit permission from the employee, listing the exact metrics and purposes of the data logged (also things like where and how long it will be stored). It’s baffling that Microsoft thought this was a good idea in the first place.

Mauricebranagh 6y ago
Yes with all the attention being paid to big tech - this is just asking to be thrown under the bus by Amazon and Google, face book etc "we are just honest business man - just look at the extremely creepy shit Microsoft get up to"
LdSGSgvupDV 6y ago
If they put it into contract, would it be legal? (I'm not in EU.)

crpatino 6y ago

> Most companies use this type of information only when the employee is suspect of leaks or misconduct This opinion based on what? You may not be aware of this management theory called Taylorism, taught around the world in every MBA and undergraduate business program, which spouses tight measurement of worker productivity as a way to achieve "efficiency" (not the naive engineering definition of efficiency you are thinking about, but the maximization of profits/revenue per monetary unit spent on payroll). While it is not the only, or even the most popular, management doctrine around, it is far from uncommon. The shortest stint on my career was at a certain Fortune 500 company. There I was expected to chronometer my coffee and bathroom breaks, as well as all other activities I undertook while on company premises. This as an IT worker (tech support, required programming but no full software development), which is a sort of protected species in terms of the workforce. Since this was self reporting, there was a lot of wiggle room; and I'd even say most of it was not due to employee dishonesty but just fatigue. It is hard to remember to keep score of the exact times when you start any given task when you have urgent and actually productive duties to fulfill, so sometimes you had to give an estimation. But I am sure that company would jump right at the chance to use Office 365's surveillance tools to refine their record keeping, and maybe root out some lying slackers as the icing of the cake.