On the other hand... (Score 2)

Many of the comments I have read have pointed out how "Orwellian" the policy of usage monitoring is. Comments have been made about disabling such software, and even "faking" a replacement. On the whole, I agree with all of that. I don't believe that an employer has the right to monitor every click and keystroke and keystroke an employee makes, any more than they have to monitor every conversation with every co-woker. However, there is one point that I have not seen discussed: what about the employer's rights? Don't they have the right to know that their propriatary software or data, which they may have spent millions on, is not being stolen by a disgruntled employee? For example, the article mentioned about one employee that was transferring data to a floppy disk. The best way such an action could be found is by montoring usage closely. The only other alternatives are a constant video survailance, or a search of personal belongings when one leaves work (both of which, I belive, are worse).

Therefore, as long as the software is being used in a *controlled* manner, and only for very limited periods of time, on people who are suspected of wrongdoing, I could agree with it's usage. I'd rather be proven innocent by being monitored, then automatically assumed guilty!