News Flash: Your Employer is Already Recording You
Response post to:
Exclusive: Many tech workers would quit if employer recorded them
20 years ago, I worked a job paying the computing bills for a generic state university. One of the bills that passed by me was for the campus wide key logger. That meant that every computer hooked up to the university network had every keystroke logged.
That's every password, every message, every email, everything.
20 years ago.
When I started working at the next university, I read closely the policy manual. It stated that the tech policies of the university applied to any device hooked into the network with no specified end date.
Did you catch that?
Any device.
That means that any device at all that accesses anything that could be defined as the "university network" (at a 100% online university) would be now covered by the university's policies-- specifically the tech policies.
So, accessing your email via your own phone? It is now part of the "university network." Same for tablets, smartwatches, any device.
That since the policy had no qualifier on time, it means that it begins when the device accesses the network and never ends. So check your email once? The policy now applies to your device.
What policy?
You've given away complete rights for the university to monitor, load, read, secure, copy, access, need I go on???? Basically, the university can access and ADD any other software to YOUR device that they want to without your consent.
Keylogging is only the beginning.
Since key loggers started, there have been successful lawsuits of companies using OTHER companies' app' data (for example, insurance companies can get your grocery buying habits to accuse you successfully of buying unhealthy foods and therefore deny you of certain health coverage.) Apps can track where you are (within feet). Just imagine what the phone can capture about you if it was trying to capture everything you say, search for, and look at. Now imagine that it's easy.
For a little while, I could asuage my fears with "Yeah, but who's got time to look through all that data? And who cares?"
But enter Artificial Intelligence. It has the time. It has all the time.
And it doesn't have to care. It just has to be set to the task. I firmly believe it could find dirt on everyone just given enough time. We are all sinners.
~15 years ago I remember being caustious at the online university job while others were using Yahoo Messenger to talk smack during a university-wide meeting. Some talk was turning dirty between coworkers. I warned them: you should not be typing this on a work computer; it can be seen.
They typed back that they were typing on Messenger and that the university didn't own the internet connection in their house.
I tried to explain that "keylogger" meant that the university could still READ what they typed regardless of the internet connection or the software program. If the keys on the keyboard were used, they were recorded.
I was ignored.
By the last few years of working at that some university, conspiracy theories had turned into reality.
We had adopted a VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) system and were also running group Help Lines. Managers had special access to watch those Help Lines to make sure that we had enough faculty to answer incoming calls. But within the same system to watch calls come in, be routed, and picked up, we could also click in and listen to the call.
One day, I was curious if the listen-in really did work. So I tried it as I had noticed that 2 of my faculty had called each other on the Help Line (typically, it would only be students calling in from outside the university to reach faculty). Sure enough, easily, I was suddenly hearing the conversation of 2 of my employees and it was clear-- they had no clue I was there, live, hearing them.
More conspiracy theories: screen capturing or recorders. I never tended to worry too much about those because I only did work on my work computer. But I knew others that did their banking and schoolwork on their work computer. When I asked them why they said, "I don't have another computer."
I was often aghast at this answer because they could afford one; it was clear that they chose not to.
But one conspiracy theory that I was all in for was: the comptuer was able to listen in to my home office. So what I did against that was:
1. I'd get a new work laptop every ~2 years. Immediately upon getting it -- in my Salt Lake City hotel room-- I'd deinstall the built-in micrphone. Oops! If the laptop ever received an "autoupdate" later on --which became more "auto" as the years went by...I made sure to check that any microphones were deinstalled or that any drivers were --oops! deleted.
2. I'd turn off the wifi and leave it off under all possible circumstances. Just never have that puppy on. Yup, I'd hardwire my internet.
AND just to be sure that my computer was only sending when I wanted her to send, I only plugged in the ethernet wire when she was "working". As soon as I was having an "off network" call with a colleague --aka on my smartphone, the work computer was unplugged.
Oh and my home wifi is password protected and I never gave the work laptop a single wifi network password or "approval" when at home (so it could not pick up and tap into my home, phone, or OTHER wifi networks).
The exception would be when traveling when you cannot used wired in airports or hotels. But I would rarely need confidentiality near my laptop in those situations anyway.
(Side story: it was the pastor that was caught eventually that tried to use an off-work network.
"The investigation confirmed that Zacharias lied about not being alone with a woman other than his wife or daughters. He also maintained multiple phones at all times, kept them on a different wireless plan than RZIM, and never used the wireless network at the office. Zacharias said this was for security, but it ensured his communication could not be monitored."
So just using an off work network is NOT a protection if you are just going to go out and be stupid.)
4. Web camera: Painters taped unless I was actively using it.
5. Standard for me and I stand by this: Computer fullly OFF every night. I never met another worker that agreed with this. Everyone else was bought and sold on the "Oh no, you should merely put it to sleep because the surge of the turning it off and on is bad for the computer" bullshit story. Every one I knew except me also met the blue screen of death. Regularly. You do the math.
Facial recognition now? Makes me laugh a little bit because bosses have been misjudging wildly since the start of the pandemic due to Zoom cameras and I say, let them learn from their mistakes. If they think that a FACE is what they have employeed, then they must be working a modeling agency, not somewhere else.
The article ends abruptly and only says that tech workers CAN vote with their feet and walk away from jobs where they are monitored. It hints that they can refuse to accept jobs where they are monitored but I find that these companies are not going to disclose their monitoring until AFTER they've securced work anyway. Boo.
It's wise to both ask and take steps to secure your own work privacy.