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Out of sight: the algorithms running our lives

The Guardian –  ‘Bossware is coming for almost every worker’: the software you might not realize is watching you. Computer monitoring software is helping companies spy on their employees to measure their productivity – often without their consent…A survey last September by review site Digital.com of 1,250 US employers found 60% with remote employees are using work monitoring software of some type, most commonly to track web browsing and application use. And almost nine out of 10 of the companies said they had terminated workers after implementing monitoring software. The number and array of tools now on offer to continuously monitor employees’ digital activity and provide feedback to managers is remarkable. Tracking technology can also log keystrokes, take screenshots, record mouse movements, activate webcams and microphones, or periodically snap pictures without employees knowing. And a growing subset incorporates artificial intelligence (AI) and complex algorithms to make sense of the data being collected. One AI monitoring technology, Veriato, gives workers a daily “risk score” which indicates the likelihood they pose a security threat to their employer. This could be because they may accidentally leak something, or because they intend to steal data or intellectual property…”

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