Your boss could be ‘spying’ on you from home – here is how companies could track your movements and search history

YOUR BOSS could be spying on you while you are working from home, track your movements and even check your search history, a study claims.

With millions of people working from home during the pandemic, it makes sense for businesses to want to monitor their employee’s productivity.

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And data from a YouGov study reveals that one in five companies are already considering or have started using software to remotely check their staff and their productivity levels.

Further analysis from  StandOut CV suggests that the software can enable employers to track your browsing history and GPS, take screenshots of your screen and even record audio and video from your computer.

According to the survey 94 per cent of the businesses track their employee’s time and work through self-reporting or another way.

A further 75 per cent of large employers are taking screengrabs or screenshots of their employee’s devices.

However the study shows just 59 per cent of businesses report on keyboard and mouse movements.

Additionally, one in five of the software and tools analysed found to be able to access video and camera recordings.

While one would expect employees would know being monitored, 47 per cent of the tools and software actually allow companies to use “Stealth Modes” so employees would not know they are being watched.

The study found the software Teramind to be the most invasive tool, based on their reporting of keystrokes, screenshots and stealth modes, followed by CleverControl and AgenTrack.

The study concludes that while the tools might be proven helpful to monitor productivity their use is expected to raise privacy concerns.

Andrew Fennell, Director at StandOut CV comments: “It is expected that the pandemic will see greater numbers of people working remotely, with companies choosing to reduce costs and react to employee attitudes.

“However, with that comes the need for many firms to track and understand their employees, using monitors to help them secure their property and productivity levels high.

“With working from home increasing in long term popularity, it is concerning that so many of the tools we analysed could provide employers and managers with private audio, visual and text-based information.

“To keep people safe we’d recommend checking your employee handbook for information on the companies monitoring policies, to understand what they are (or aren’t) collecting.

”Additionally, as a general rule based on the results of our analysis, people should look to separate their work from personal devices and personal use from work devices.”

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This post first appeared on Thesun.co.uk