It's only evil depending on the context in which it's used. I spent a year contracting on odesk.com remotely. They take random screenshots while you work. I act

It's only evil depending on the context in which it's used. I spent a year contracting on odesk.com remotely. They take random screenshots while you work. I actually grew to appreciate it and found my work ethic to be improved. In the context of our company, we all worked remotely, kept in touch via IM/cam and email, and the monitoring apps were a way to keep everyone honest and committed while having a very long leash day-to-day. Managers (I was one of them) had access to screenshots but we rarely if ever reviewed them, except in cases prior to a firing (and often not even then). A dedicated, small team reviewed the screenshots and asked for refunds from their pay if they were on non-work related things. Often the managers were never notified unless the violations were extreme. A sidenote, we were all contractors and most of us were freelancers essentially, so we were all easy to fire on a moment's notice. It kept teams strong and kept people from resenting their co-workers who couldn't keep up. And re-organizing/growing teams was easy, because firing _and_ hiring were so easy. I could do both without any management or peer approval.