Any manager who purchases network-operating software is probably getting built-in snoop features … A technically inclined boss or network administrator can turn any employee workstation into a covert surveillance post … Products like Dynamics Corp.’s Peak & Spy; Microcom Inc.’s LANlord; Novell Inc.’s NetWare … turn employees’ cubicles into covert listening stations. Other software applications count the number of keystrokes per minute, the employee’s error rate, the time it takes a worker to complete each task, and the time a person spends away from the computer … The Orwellian potential of such technology has privacy advocates and working stiffs a bit paranoid. But are concerns about employee monitoring irrational?
Predictor: Whalen, John
Prediction, in context:In a 1995 article for Wired magazine, John Whalen does a bit of surveillance at the American Society for Industrial Security’s annual convention, interviewing Sandra Wagner of Advantor Corp. Whalen writes: ”Thanks to high-speed modems, cell phones, and ISDN lines, the boss can now tune into surveillance video from the office on his home PC or in his car … ‘You can track how long employees are in any given area,’ explains Sandra Wagner, a salesperson for Advantor Corp., manufacturer of one such system. You can monitor them even at their computer workstations if you have them log in with their card key … But why don’t you just hire trustworthy people in the first place, the kind who don’t require management by high-tech stakeouts? Well, it turns out that the security professionals have got that angle covered, too. There are dozens of consultants eager to hit the infobahn and run down crucial data on a prospective employee’s past record – workers’ comp claims, health insurance status, criminal rap sheets, proclivity to pocket … The fact that these technologies have become so routine means that any manager who purchases network-operating software is probably getting built-in snoop features. In an office hardwired with a server-based local area network managed by software such as Microsoft LAN Manager, a technically inclined boss or network administrator can turn any employee workstation into a covert surveillance post … Products like Dynamics Corp.’s Peak & Spy; Microcom Inc.’s LANlord; Novell Inc.’s NetWare; and Neon Software’s NetMinder … they turn employees’ cubicles into covert listening stations. Other software applications count the number of keystrokes per minute, the employee’s error rate, the time it takes a worker to complete each task, and the time a person spends away from the computer. Not surprisingly, the Orwellian potential of such technology has privacy advocates and working stiffs a bit paranoid. But are concerns about employee monitoring irrational? Remote monitoring certainly happens more frequently and routinely than we tend to think. In 1993, Macworld magazine conducted a study of CEOs and computer-systems directors and turned up some rather unsettling statistics. Twenty-two percent of the polled business leaders admitted to searching employee voicemail, computer files, and electronic mail. The larger the company, the more the snooping. Extrapolating to the workplace at large, Macworld estimated that as many as 20 million Americans ‘may be subject to electronic monitoring through their computers (not including telephones) on the job.'”
Date of prediction: January 1, 1995
Topic of prediction: Controversial Issues
Subtopic: Privacy/Surveillance
Name of publication: Wired
Title, headline, chapter name: You’re Not Paranoid: They Really Are Watching You: Surveillance in the Workplace is Getting Digitized – and Getting Worse
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/3.03/security_pr.html
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Anderson, Janna Quitney