Tracking your every move

By Lyndi-Colleen Morgan

Most people don’t know their employers have methods of tracking their every move on the internet.

There is a debate on whether this technology is ethical, as keyboard loggers are tracking programs that allow people to see what information is being searched on a computer network. This information is then recorded and made view-able by select individuals. Other names for these programs include snoops, probes and sniffers.

Keyboard loggers are commonly used by companies to monitor the work habits of their employees, making sure the network is being used for reasonable means and security of the companies networks. Hackers also use these programs to obtain personal information from networks by using these programs.

Samer Rayyan has been a computer programmer for six years and has worked on several large projects, including programming banking software.

He said internet activities are usually the ones being monitored. Employers have the ability to read emails, Facebook posts and internet searches accessed by employees at their workplace. Keyboard loggers are often used to regulate internet use and encourage productivity.

Rayyan said he believes this should not be the case.

“If a company is having problems with an individual not delivering, then that employee can be fired.There is no reason to spy on your entire company,” said Rayyan.

The people do consider the program to be invasive. He said permission given for these programs should not be used in circumstances where employers can obtain personal information and used only with permission.

“I don’t think these systems have a place in an ethical business,” said Rayyan. University of Windsor professor and author on computer ethics, Pierre Boulos, said people believe privacy should be respected. He said keyloggers are being used in ways for which they were not initially intended.

“I think they should be forthright in warning individuals that they are being watched.  In fact, key loggers are being used in the same way as spyware, malware, and other corrupt ways,” said Boulos. “This needs to be controlled.”

Computer programming classes, such as the ones offered at St. Clair College, have made ethics part of the curriculum to promote proper use of technology and the legal consequences of misusing the the skills they learn.

Ruth Susannah, has been teaching at St. Clair College for 17 years and is the coordinator of the computer systems technician networking program. She said the college uses keyboard loggers within the school, primarily to monitor the actions of the students, making sure they are being used correctly. The recorded information is only available to those in management and cannot be viewed by other students or teachers.

“In order for technology to be ethical, it needs to be used correctly. A lot of the time, it isn’t used in the way it is intended,” said Susannah.

She said this means to not use keyboard loggers for personal gain or to harm others, as there are federal laws set in place to discourage the use of trackers.

This does not make it completely illegal as there are gray areas within these laws. According to the Canadian Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, as long as the person who installed the tracker program is the owner of the device, they have the right to use the software.

Rayyan said this should be changed, more detailed laws should be put in place to discourage taking advantage of individuals and reading their personal information. Currently there are laws protecting other forms of privacy and Rayyan said the ones involving trackers should be no different. Although companies intend to use these to benefit the company and employees, it can ultimately result in a burnt out staff and resentful workforce.

“These systems are a result of viewing people as data instead of actual people,” said Rayyan. “It is a short sighted attempt to extract every bit of productivity from their employees without actually having any understanding of how their employees work.”