Is Screenshot Monitoring Lawful? Business owners might be thinking about whether screenshot monitoring is illegal and unethical to implement. To clear your confusion, we are going to discuss why it is legal, and to what extent?
Employers think screenshot monitoring software is illegal before implementing it because they are worried about their confidential data and their employees’ privacy.
The Software is used by employers to track the employee’s activities including which website they are visiting, time taken to complete the task, and time is taken for a break; along with this, there is a program that helps managers take a screenshot of all the employee desktop activity. This is all done by using the Screenshot Monitoring tool.
This type of software is beneficial for the organization as it automates many processes, it helps in better estimating performance. The software is used to improve productivity, protect sensitive document verification, and ensure work proof.
Now the question that arises in mind is “Is Employee Screenshot Monitoring Software Legitimate?”. Can companies authoritatively track the employee’s activity? According to Forbes, Screenshot monitoring is legal if it can be done in the right way.
Employers can track the employees’ activity but they somewhat have to maintain employee privacy. There should be some boundaries to watch out for the employee’s activity.
In this article, we have tried to answer the question by exploring to what extent employers have the right to know and consider how screenshot monitoring works?.
What Information Do Employers Have the Right to Know
Office Hours: Time Dedicated to Organization
Do employers have the right to know everything, that employees are doing during their working hours?
The time spent by the employees in the office is truly the company’s time. They use company resources, working for the company’s client and project, and most importantly they are paid to dedicate their time to the business but their privacy should be preserved.
Purpose: Tracking Conditions
The Electronic Communication Privacy Act 1986 is the key law addressing employee monitoring in the United States. This allows tracking of employees’ verbal & written communications but with some conditions. These conditions include protection from insider and external threats, compliance with employees’ rights, etc.
Device: Office Equipment Usability
Employers require that employees utilize company-provided devices for official work. You cannot use them for your own purposes. Using this practice violates the rights of device usage, it should only be used for working purposes.
How Screenshot Monitoring Works
There are two types of screenshot implementation, each having its pros and cons.
Manual Screenshot
In this screenshot implementation, you need to activate manually by selecting the time and the employee whose Desktop Activity Screenshot you want. This method seems more targeted and considered unfair by employees. This is also considered less efficient when you want to ensure work proof for a large number of employees. In this, you can choose to activate the feature when required.
Automatic Screenshot
Employee Activity screenshot implementation is automatic; where systems take the screenshot for the selected group of employees. This implementation is fairer because no employee will feel targeted and isolated.
Remote Screenshot Monitoring is allowable because employees are working on the client’s data and on company premises and time. Employers have the right to know whether all the processes are according to the standards. Employees have the right to personal privacy and freedom during break time, some steps should be taken to prevent any violation.
Which Factor Decides Screenshot Capturing is legal?
The main factor that decides the screenshot tracking lawfulness is the functionality of its feature. You can either manually capture the employee’s activity or use software to take an auto screenshot every minute of the day.
Conclusion
Employers have the right to know how their resources, date, and time are used by the employees. But employees should also have some bit of personal freedom even when at work. It’s fair to say that Employee Monitoring Software is legal but employers should be careful how to use it. DeskTrack is one of the best Employee Screenshot Monitoring Software for tracking employees’ activity and this software is maintaining its limitations. This software was developed keeping employers and employees in mind.
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