Keylogger | Mobile Phone Spy
Table of Contents
Employee monitoring is seen as the last resort for businesses, especially those that lack a professional culture, to keep staff focused on their delegated tasks. Sometimes, surveillance has been found to lead to heightened employee stress levels. Although employees doesn’t respond well to companies that observe their employees, monitoring actually has some worthwhile benefits in terms of policy implementation and achievement of the organization’s goals. Whether workplace monitoring is positive or not, it basically depends on the how the merits are weighed against the demerits.
Employee productivity issues are for real especially this age of technology. According to the “2007 Electronic Monitoring & Surveillance Survey” from American Management Association (AMA) and The ePolicy Institute, more than one fourth of employers have fired workers for misusing e-mail and nearly one third have fired employees for misusing the Internet. (Source: American Management Association).
Companies that do not conduct policy training or monitor internal messages can be putting themselves at risk. In 2003, oil company Chevron USA paid $2.2 million to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit over its email content.
Employee monitoring doesn’t only address employee productivity but also a way to comply with the recent data security legislation (e.g., the US Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act). The act implies that everyone is now a potential threat to client information. The Safeguards Rule of the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) establishes standards for the administrative, technical and physical safety of customer records. (Source: http://www.isaca.org/)
Consequently, organizations are monitoring their networks in increasing numbers not only to comply with federal statutes, but also to reduce other employee risks.
This is not an issue of trust but of client information privacy and security. Data security laws have effectively elevated the privacy and safety of client information above the privacy expectations of employees. Furthermore, legal experts advise that firms should remove all expectations of privacy in the workplace.
What Exactly is Employee Monitoring?
Staff monitoring describes a situation where employers make use of surveillance technology to track internet usage and monitor calls in a particular workplace. This may be in order to comply with set policies, control quality or boost performance and customer satisfaction.
Advantages of Workplace Monitoring
Employee monitoring is most obviously beneficial to the employers for the fact that that job performance is generally improved. The advantages however are doubled edged in that, through watching for mistakes, the employer not only helps the company cut on costly errors but helps the employee improve through guidance. In the latter process, the employer gets to acknowledge the employees strengths and through such recognition, a better workplace relationship is built.
On the issue of workplace privacy and employee monitoring, the surveillance system can also help improve safety and reduce injuries. Catching the safety infractions, whether committed blatantly or unknowingly, on tape, can help save the company from lawsuits. Moreover, an employer can easily identify policy violators for disciplinary action. The end result of enforcing such a system is that, eventually, customer satisfaction will be increased.
Disadvantages of Employee Monitoring
The most concerning demerit of employee monitoring is the claim that it increases stress levels in staff members. It is said that when employees are aware they are being monitored, they tend to be more conscious and unsettled. This therefore makes them focus on meeting the set requirements instead of checking the quality of the work. The pressure resulting from workplace monitoring can therefore lead to misleading performance results.
Besides the stress, surveillance has also been shown to create feeling of mistrust between the employee and the employer. The subordinates tend to feel diminished hence end up feeling dissatisfied with the job and may end up seeking other employment opportunities. If the command system is not properly setup to connect with the employees, the result can also be that of isolation and neglect.
Conclusion
Although the advantages and disadvantages of employee monitoring seem to balance out, the disadvantages can easily be ironed out through the right balance of technology and personal engagement. This therefore means that workplace privacy and employee monitoring can go hand in hand such that the employees do not feel pressured but motivated to achieve their outright best. This can only be achieved through creation of clear work policies and guidelines backed by proper training and communication to define the business code of ethics. Ultimately, everybody can find a good compromise for the two sides of the monitoring trend.
Best Employee Monitoring Software
Computer and LAN Monitoring Software
Netvizor
NetVizor comes with an unparalleled task recording feature-set that in secret records everything employees do on your network. Chats, keystrokes and emails, site and on-line search activity, application usage, file usage, uploads and downloads, computer software setups, and web traffic represent simply a sampling of the NetVizor activity recording capabilities. Visual proof of all network behaviour is recorded by the NetVizor built-in screen capturing and playback.
NetVizor not only records every thing users do, but in addition, enables you to remotely connect to user workstations and see what they truly are doing in real time. Innovative action tickers, tiled visual overviews, and internet-based remote administration capabilities enable you to see what exactly is happening at any time, and give you the power seize control of any computer in your network if the need arise.
To know more, read out Netvizor Review or visit their site at https://www.spytech-web.com/netvizor.shtml.
SurveilStar Employee Monitor
SurveilStar is the powerful and easy-to-use PC monitoring, employee monitoring software that improves productivity. It records and controls all computer and Internet activities – emails, web sites, chats and instant messages, program activities, document operations, movable devices, printers, and many more. You can watch real-time screen snapshots and stop sabotage or data theft in time. SurveilStar is feature-rich, easy and intuitive.
SurveilStar allows you to watch multiple screens simultaneous, 2*2, 3*3 and 4*4 are supported. You can monitor up to 16 screens at the same time. It also provides statistics for websites, applications and traffic. Each allows you to use pie chart or bar chart. And the chart will list top 10, top 20 or custom numbers according to your need.
To know more about Surveil Employee Monitor, you can read our you may visit http://www.surveilstar.com
RealTime Spy
Realtime-Spy is the most robust, feature-rich, cloud-based computer monitoring and remote monitoring software available for parents and businesses. It allows you to remotely install the monitoring system on any computer you own and access the activity logs from anywhere at any time via your own personal Realtime-Spy control panel! There is no need for directly connecting to the remote PC – all you have to do is point your browser to your secure Realtime-Spy member’s area to view logs from any computers you install Realtime-Spy on! Realtime-Spy can log and record anything your child or employee does on your computer, as well as display, in real-time, what they are doing and typing.
Realtime-Spy is a remote spy software solution that requires no physical installation, runs in complete stealth, and allows you to truly view activity logs from any location at any time!
To know more, read out Realtime-Spy review or visit their site at http://www.realtime-spy.com.
Mobile Devices Monitoring App
mSpy
mSpy is the most popular monitoring and safety application in the market with millions of satisfied users around the globe. Our discreet software works by tracking all activity in the background of the monitored phone including GPS location, web history, images, videos, email, SMS, Skype, WhatsApp, keystrokes and much more. The easy to use control panel, 24/7 live customer support and 256 bit encryption makes mSpy the best solution out there for keeping your children safe and workers productive.
To know more, read out mSpy review or visit their site at http://www.mspy.com.
FlexiSpy
Flexispy captures the content of emails, texts, call log details and GPS coordinates. Flexispy also gives customers the ability to listen to live calls. Customers are alerted that the mobile device with the software installed is on an active call. They also have the option to be added to the call. In addition, customers have the ability to turn on the microphone on a mobile device secretly, allowing them to listen to the mobile device’s surroundings.
To know more, read out FlexiSpy review or visit their site at https://www.flexispy.com.
Highster Mobile
Highster Mobile is a remote mobile phone tracker that safely monitors your children, employees and loved ones with the top cell phone monitoring solution! It provides great number of features to help you remotely tract text messages, calls, website visited, chats, social media activities, GPS location and more. All logged events can be monitored and reviewed on a secured online account that will be given to you upon installation of the application. Highster Mobile is available on Android, iPhone, iPad, iPod, and Tablet.
To know more, read out Highster Mobile review or visit their site at http://www.highstermobile.com.
Employee monitoring is more important now than ever before. Read well the recommended monitoring software and app and discover how it will help automate things for you.
It’s really useful.
It’s really useful.
It’s really useful.
I have read through your article on employee monitoring and found your points quite interesting. I agree with your highlighted advantages of this ethical issue, including the perceived increase in productivity, as well as the security aspect alongside liability of individual employees, however I do feel as though there are more disadvantages towards this ethical issue than you have described, and see they would not be “ironed out” as easily as you may predict.
One issue to point out with employee monitoring electronically is that of privacy. Although there is extra protection to be had from employee monitoring in terms of individual information protection, there is a blurred line as to what is an invasion of an employee’s privacy and what is not, however it is evident that employee monitoring decreases the amount of control employees have over their own information through unrestricted access, which in turn gives the employer power over personal access over employees (Martin & Freeman, 2003). It is this loss of control that forces a lack of privacy. Even when organisations have the ability to monitor their employees regardless whether they go ahead with it can be argued to be identified as a loss of privacy among employees.
Another issue is that of paternalism. When it comes to enforcing monitoring, there can be negative effects between employer and employee in terms of expectations and work standards. A study performed by Swiss economist Bruno Frey found that employee monitoring negatively affected performance by demotivating employees. The employees tended to see their employers as having low expectations of them and they then lived down to those expectations (Martin & Freeman, 2003). This closely relates to a parental relationship and this reduction of privacy can hinder maturity and therefore keep the employees in a childish condition.
Alongside this maturity issue, employees become severely demotivated and disengaged with their employer and this can cause further issues with productivity and employee turnover. This issue can be one that is hard to come back from, as it becomes a sense of self-worth and identity, as well as relationship building and takes more of an emergent change to rectify.
There is also a major lack of individual creativity associated with employee monitoring, as the employee usually is not allowed to vary the procedures, but must follow them exactly. Employees also have a fear of exercising creativity that is outside normal procedures because they fear being questioned or even losing their jobs in case anything ever goes wrong (Weckert, 2005). In this environment, employers would critically diminish creative thinking, as employees would act and think as though they were being watched. Innovative and creative ideas may be filtered out of communications if the employee is constantly worried what others may think. This is a major issue as companies rely on new ideas in order to constantly move forward and improve, and they work hard to form innovative and creative teams to support inventive employees and improve products and services offered. Innovation and creativity go hand in hand and this is in danger when that creativity is restrained with even the threat of monitoring (Martin & Freeman, 2003).
Social control is also an issue associated with employee monitoring which should be identified. Monitoring not only changes specific behaviours that are unwanted, but also changes the overall culture of the company due to the employees knowing at any time they could be being watched. This could be argued to be a benefit due to the constant endeavour for risk and cost management and this could be a sure fire way to achieve this, however this large amount of social control not only invades individuals physical space, but also their private space, in which can be taken as a form of oppression and can lead to a lack of autonomy.
Although employers are fully within their legal rights to monitor an employee’s use of electronic resources, there is an obvious range of ethical considerations that need to be taken into account. In addition to the above discussion, monitoring of employee communications can decrease motivation, engagement and introduce a sense of distrust (Gallagher, 2014). A clear policy is an obvious necessity to ensure some sense of boundaries are identified, however, perhaps an employer should only be able to monitor certain devices and communication channels ONLY if they have reason to believe an employee may be engaging in unacceptable behaviours. This then moves the employer away from the “Big Brother” mentality that can be a major issue, and would give employees the sense that they are trusted and have the ability to complete their workplace tasks without feeling spied on, at least somewhat.
Gallagher, S. (2014, April). Ethical Considerations in Monitoring Employee Internet Usage. Retrieved 2016, from Compliance and Ethics: http://complianceandethics.org/flashback-friday-past-ethikos-favorites-ethical-considerations-in-monitoring-employee-internet-usage/
Martin, K., & Freeman, E. (2003). Some problems with employee monitoring. Journal of Business Ethics.
Weckert, J. (2005). Electronic Monitoring in the Workplace: Controversies and Solutions. Idea Group Publishing.
I have read through your article on employee monitoring and found your points quite interesting. I agree with your highlighted advantages of this ethical issue, including the perceived increase in productivity, as well as the security aspect alongside liability of individual employees, however I do feel as though there are more disadvantages towards this ethical issue than you have described, and see they would not be “ironed out” as easily as you may predict.
One issue to point out with employee monitoring electronically is that of privacy. Although there is extra protection to be had from employee monitoring in terms of individual information protection, there is a blurred line as to what is an invasion of an employee’s privacy and what is not, however it is evident that employee monitoring decreases the amount of control employees have over their own information through unrestricted access, which in turn gives the employer power over personal access over employees (Martin & Freeman, 2003). It is this loss of control that forces a lack of privacy. Even when organisations have the ability to monitor their employees regardless whether they go ahead with it can be argued to be identified as a loss of privacy among employees.
Another issue is that of paternalism. When it comes to enforcing monitoring, there can be negative effects between employer and employee in terms of expectations and work standards. A study performed by Swiss economist Bruno Frey found that employee monitoring negatively affected performance by demotivating employees. The employees tended to see their employers as having low expectations of them and they then lived down to those expectations (Martin & Freeman, 2003). This closely relates to a parental relationship and this reduction of privacy can hinder maturity and therefore keep the employees in a childish condition.
Alongside this maturity issue, employees become severely demotivated and disengaged with their employer and this can cause further issues with productivity and employee turnover. This issue can be one that is hard to come back from, as it becomes a sense of self-worth and identity, as well as relationship building and takes more of an emergent change to rectify.
There is also a major lack of individual creativity associated with employee monitoring, as the employee usually is not allowed to vary the procedures, but must follow them exactly. Employees also have a fear of exercising creativity that is outside normal procedures because they fear being questioned or even losing their jobs in case anything ever goes wrong (Weckert, 2005). In this environment, employers would critically diminish creative thinking, as employees would act and think as though they were being watched. Innovative and creative ideas may be filtered out of communications if the employee is constantly worried what others may think. This is a major issue as companies rely on new ideas in order to constantly move forward and improve, and they work hard to form innovative and creative teams to support inventive employees and improve products and services offered. Innovation and creativity go hand in hand and this is in danger when that creativity is restrained with even the threat of monitoring (Martin & Freeman, 2003).
Social control is also an issue associated with employee monitoring which should be identified. Monitoring not only changes specific behaviours that are unwanted, but also changes the overall culture of the company due to the employees knowing at any time they could be being watched. This could be argued to be a benefit due to the constant endeavour for risk and cost management and this could be a sure fire way to achieve this, however this large amount of social control not only invades individuals physical space, but also their private space, in which can be taken as a form of oppression and can lead to a lack of autonomy.
Although employers are fully within their legal rights to monitor an employee’s use of electronic resources, there is an obvious range of ethical considerations that need to be taken into account. In addition to the above discussion, monitoring of employee communications can decrease motivation, engagement and introduce a sense of distrust (Gallagher, 2014). A clear policy is an obvious necessity to ensure some sense of boundaries are identified, however, perhaps an employer should only be able to monitor certain devices and communication channels ONLY if they have reason to believe an employee may be engaging in unacceptable behaviours. This then moves the employer away from the “Big Brother” mentality that can be a major issue, and would give employees the sense that they are trusted and have the ability to complete their workplace tasks without feeling spied on, at least somewhat.
Gallagher, S. (2014, April). Ethical Considerations in Monitoring Employee Internet Usage. Retrieved 2016, from Compliance and Ethics: http://complianceandethics.org/flashback-friday-past-ethikos-favorites-ethical-considerations-in-monitoring-employee-internet-usage/
Martin, K., & Freeman, E. (2003). Some problems with employee monitoring. Journal of Business Ethics.
Weckert, J. (2005). Electronic Monitoring in the Workplace: Controversies and Solutions. Idea Group Publishing.
I have read through your article on employee monitoring and found your points quite interesting. I agree with your highlighted advantages of this ethical issue, including the perceived increase in productivity, as well as the security aspect alongside liability of individual employees, however I do feel as though there are more disadvantages towards this ethical issue than you have described, and see they would not be “ironed out” as easily as you may predict.
One issue to point out with employee monitoring electronically is that of privacy. Although there is extra protection to be had from employee monitoring in terms of individual information protection, there is a blurred line as to what is an invasion of an employee’s privacy and what is not, however it is evident that employee monitoring decreases the amount of control employees have over their own information through unrestricted access, which in turn gives the employer power over personal access over employees (Martin & Freeman, 2003). It is this loss of control that forces a lack of privacy. Even when organisations have the ability to monitor their employees regardless whether they go ahead with it can be argued to be identified as a loss of privacy among employees.
Another issue is that of paternalism. When it comes to enforcing monitoring, there can be negative effects between employer and employee in terms of expectations and work standards. A study performed by Swiss economist Bruno Frey found that employee monitoring negatively affected performance by demotivating employees. The employees tended to see their employers as having low expectations of them and they then lived down to those expectations (Martin & Freeman, 2003). This closely relates to a parental relationship and this reduction of privacy can hinder maturity and therefore keep the employees in a childish condition.
Alongside this maturity issue, employees become severely demotivated and disengaged with their employer and this can cause further issues with productivity and employee turnover. This issue can be one that is hard to come back from, as it becomes a sense of self-worth and identity, as well as relationship building and takes more of an emergent change to rectify.
There is also a major lack of individual creativity associated with employee monitoring, as the employee usually is not allowed to vary the procedures, but must follow them exactly. Employees also have a fear of exercising creativity that is outside normal procedures because they fear being questioned or even losing their jobs in case anything ever goes wrong (Weckert, 2005). In this environment, employers would critically diminish creative thinking, as employees would act and think as though they were being watched. Innovative and creative ideas may be filtered out of communications if the employee is constantly worried what others may think. This is a major issue as companies rely on new ideas in order to constantly move forward and improve, and they work hard to form innovative and creative teams to support inventive employees and improve products and services offered. Innovation and creativity go hand in hand and this is in danger when that creativity is restrained with even the threat of monitoring (Martin & Freeman, 2003).
Social control is also an issue associated with employee monitoring which should be identified. Monitoring not only changes specific behaviours that are unwanted, but also changes the overall culture of the company due to the employees knowing at any time they could be being watched. This could be argued to be a benefit due to the constant endeavour for risk and cost management and this could be a sure fire way to achieve this, however this large amount of social control not only invades individuals physical space, but also their private space, in which can be taken as a form of oppression and can lead to a lack of autonomy.
Although employers are fully within their legal rights to monitor an employee’s use of electronic resources, there is an obvious range of ethical considerations that need to be taken into account. In addition to the above discussion, monitoring of employee communications can decrease motivation, engagement and introduce a sense of distrust (Gallagher, 2014). A clear policy is an obvious necessity to ensure some sense of boundaries are identified, however, perhaps an employer should only be able to monitor certain devices and communication channels ONLY if they have reason to believe an employee may be engaging in unacceptable behaviours. This then moves the employer away from the “Big Brother” mentality that can be a major issue, and would give employees the sense that they are trusted and have the ability to complete their workplace tasks without feeling spied on, at least somewhat.
Gallagher, S. (2014, April). Ethical Considerations in Monitoring Employee Internet Usage. Retrieved 2016, from Compliance and Ethics: http://complianceandethics.org/flashback-friday-past-ethikos-favorites-ethical-considerations-in-monitoring-employee-internet-usage/
Martin, K., & Freeman, E. (2003). Some problems with employee monitoring. Journal of Business Ethics.
Weckert, J. (2005). Electronic Monitoring in the Workplace: Controversies and Solutions. Idea Group Publishing.
Is employee monitoring legal?
Hi William. Let me site a part of Spectorsoft’s article about this. “Yes, employee monitoring is legal in the United States.* While the 1986 Electronic Communications Privacy Act prohibits unauthorized interception of electronic communications including e-mail, the law exempts service providers. Therefore, the courts have commonly interpreted this to include employers who provide e-mail and Internet access, according to David Sobel, attorney for the Electronic Privacy Information Center in Washington, D.C.
Not only is it legal to monitor employees on their computers and online, there is no federal US law that requires employers to notify workers they are being monitored. So while it is a best practice to inform employees of the company’s right to monitor all activity on employee computers and disclose it in the employee handbook, companies are NOT required to do so in the US.”
Is employee monitoring legal?
Hi William. Let me site a part of Spectorsoft’s article about this. “Yes, employee monitoring is legal in the United States.* While the 1986 Electronic Communications Privacy Act prohibits unauthorized interception of electronic communications including e-mail, the law exempts service providers. Therefore, the courts have commonly interpreted this to include employers who provide e-mail and Internet access, according to David Sobel, attorney for the Electronic Privacy Information Center in Washington, D.C.
Not only is it legal to monitor employees on their computers and online, there is no federal US law that requires employers to notify workers they are being monitored. So while it is a best practice to inform employees of the company’s right to monitor all activity on employee computers and disclose it in the employee handbook, companies are NOT required to do so in the US.”
Is employee monitoring legal?
Hi William. Let me site a part of Spectorsoft’s article about this. “Yes, employee monitoring is legal in the United States.* While the 1986 Electronic Communications Privacy Act prohibits unauthorized interception of electronic communications including e-mail, the law exempts service providers. Therefore, the courts have commonly interpreted this to include employers who provide e-mail and Internet access, according to David Sobel, attorney for the Electronic Privacy Information Center in Washington, D.C.
Not only is it legal to monitor employees on their computers and online, there is no federal US law that requires employers to notify workers they are being monitored. So while it is a best practice to inform employees of the company’s right to monitor all activity on employee computers and disclose it in the employee handbook, companies are NOT required to do so in the US.”