Technological advances are helping many employers to monitor their workforce in increasingly sophisticated ways, while at the same time, public attitudes towards individual data privacy are hardening. Two important drivers of these changes came to a head in 2018 – the advent of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in Europe and the public’s changing perception of how certain social media outlets, such as Facebook, handle privacy.
The effects of these developments are coming into sharp focus in workplaces worldwide, indicating that employees are becoming less likely to accept unwarranted or unexplained intrusions than ever before. Our research analyses the rules on monitoring in the workplace in 41 countries and examines how the law is coping with the growing tensions between new technologies and the strengthening of privacy rights.
“Employees are becoming less likely to accept unwarranted or unexplained intrusions than ever before.”
Key Findings
There are differences in workplace monitoring rules in different parts of the world. Even within the EU GDPR bloc, there are noticeable variations that employers need to take into account.
- In terms of restrictions on workplace monitoring, the general rules are that employers must tell their employees if they are going to be monitored and must do so before the monitoring starts.
- Employers must also have a legitimate interest to monitor, which is balanced against the rights and freedoms of employees. The direct consent of the employee is not needed everywhere, but in some places it is, and so it is important to know the local rules.
- Employers need clear reasons to monitor employees outside of working hours, and it should be kept to the minimum level necessary to achieve their aims. It is far harder to justify than monitoring within working hours just about everywhere.
- There is no substitute for having a good, clear policy about monitoring. It is also beneficial to set clear parameters for use of employer-owned devices for personal reasons and for the use of social media. The courts can come down heavily on those without a policy.
We see an emerging trend in some countries towards using new tech for the benefit of employees’ health and well-being under the umbrella of the keylogger employee management system. But in many places, employers need the specific consent of employees to do this, and in some countries, employers must avoid collecting or processing any health data that is generated. The best solution to this problem is to outsource this function to a suitable third party.
Additionally, the Internet has not only become a major conduit for placing and distributing malicious programs but also aids in their infection and execution. The enormous potential of the Internet has therefore led to an increase in keylogger attempts with a linear annual increase in unique keyloggers. You can freely download the keylogger provided by one of the big players in the security field and see how’s working before deciding to purchase one.
COUNTRIES MORE PROGRESSING IN KEYLOGGER EMPLOYEE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
Argentina, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Panama, Peru, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States.