Picture: for illustration purposes
The global rise of remote working, triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, has precipitated a surge in the use of employee monitoring tools, colloquially known as bossware or tattleware. Estimates reveal approximately 60% of companies with remote employees have incorporated some sort of bossware utility to keep a watchful eye over their digital workforce. However, the debate continues over the pros and cons of its implementation.
Bossware, a digital assembly of tracking tools, facilitates employers in analyzing diverse metrics including employee work hours, email content, browser historical data, app usage, GPS location, and many more. The purpose of such monitoring ranges from enhancing productivity to ensuring cybersecurity measures are promptly enforced.
Notably, an alarming 53% of companies using such monitoring have found their employees engaged in non-work-related activities for three or more hours per day. Furthermore, global analytics firms like Gallup estimate an astonishing $8.8 trillion in lost productivity annually, directly linked to disengaged employees. Bossware opens the door for employers to identify productivity pitfalls and shore up loopholes in security protocols, given that a significant 88-95% of data breaches are traced back to employee mistakes.
Despite its evident merits, Carey van Vlaanderen, CEO of ESET Southern Africa, advises businesses to tread lightly when it comes to bossware. "Whilst it can fortify your company against both security and legal risks if applied suitably, it should not replace existing robust security software and practices. Employers need to strike a fine balance respecting employees' privacy and potential privacy concerns," Vlaanderen cautions.
In the South African context, the application of bossware complies with laws provided employers meet the requirements of the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) and the Regulation of Interception of Communications and Provision of Communication-related Information Act (RICA).
As we stride forward in this landscape, it’s critical for businesses to achieve a delicate equilibrium between harnessing bossware’s potential to boost corporate goals while ensuring employees' privacy rights remain unscathed.