Employee monitoring: monitoring methods
Section five of the Personnel Today Management Resources one stop guide on employee monitoring, covering: surveillance equipment and the benefits and disadvantages of different monitoring methods. Other sections .
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Use this section to Find out about surveillance equipment such as e-mail filtering and internet monitoring software, video surveillance and biometric data Examine how these different methods can be used and what they can do for your organisation |
Selecting a supplier
If you buy monitoring systems off the shelf, you need to make sure the system complies with data protection law.
The Data Protection Code (supplementary guidance) warns employers to take particular care with non-EU suppliers unused to working within the confines of data protection law. The legal responsibility for compliance rests with the organisation using the system rather than the supplier. But the Information Commission states in the supplementary guidance section that it does recognise that it may take some time to bring existing systems up to the desired standards and that the Information Commissioner will take this into account if the possibility of enforcement action arises.
You also need to make sure you choose a reputable firm as there have been cases of companies being taken in by 'cowboy' outfits.
US industry analysts the Meta Group points out that the web-filtering software is still an immature one, with market leaders SurfControl and Websense battling for market share along with competitors such as Elron Software. It urges employers buying such software to be aware of the following issues:
Speed and effectiveness: some products 'sniff and parse' page requests while serving up the web page, while others act as a gateway. The first approach involves less delay, but may fail to block banned pages when traffic is particularly busy
Accuracy: some products hold a database of banned sites while others categorise content on a page-by-page basis. While the latter approach will be less than accurate, the first will fail when pages not in the database are requested
Performance and scaleability: some products work well when there is little traffic to deal with, but may not be able to cope effectively with larger volumes. Others may be too powerful and expensive for the organisation´s needs
Management: the software needs to be able to report at an appropriate level, giving sufficient information to managers to deal with breaches of policy but maintaining individual privacy.
The Meta Group also suggests looking at other issues such as being able to configure web-filtering differently for different groups of employees, and the time taken to process access data and produce reports.
There is a vast range of software available allowing employers to monitor and filter e-mail, such as randomly reviewing e-mail transmissions, by specifically reviewing exchanges between certain employees, or by flagging up key terms. Software can be used to analyse the organisation's entire e-mail traffic phrase by phrase, drawing conclusions about whether a message is legitimate company business.
Software can be instructed to search for specific keywords and damaging phrases, or even use algorithms to analyse communications patterns and turn them into images.
E-mail-filtering software can allow you to
track every e-mail sent and received
monitor every keystroke typed on PC where installed including delete stroke
take photos on WebCam to confirm user identity
provide reports with breakdowns on areas such as: e-mail attachments, headers, domain names.
Benefits
Non-invasive
Acts as deterrent
Allows you to enforce e-mail usage policy
Allows you to keep track of who is sending what to whom
Allows detailed analysis reports
Increased productivity
Protects company against law suits resulting from staff misrepresenting the company.
Disadvantages
Can be seen as intrusive, particularly if content is analysed, leading to lower productivity and low morale
Some software only tracks e-mails as they enter and leave the organisation
Can leave you liable to prosecution under privacy laws.
Internet monitoring software can:
allow you to view which web sites staff are visiting
incorporate alarm mechanism which is activated if staff dial banned telephone numbers or access prohibited websites.
allow you to analyse use according to criteria such as: content type, file type, allocated bandwidth, time of day, time spent online, groups of employees affected
give you reports on areas such as summaries and trends of internet usage, plus individual employees' online activity
allow you to receive instant notification if staff breach rules
block access to certain sites permanently or at certain times of the day, such as web-based e-mail access and MP3 file, which store music and use a lot of memory
set time limits on access to sites in certain categories such as holiday booking
allow users to be notified when the requested site is blocked, with a message saying 'you are visiting a site the company would prefer you didn't go to during working time', for example.
Many companies prefer flexible software such as that offered by SurfControl that allows them to implement varying levels of filtering restrictions depending on the time of day, or which allows them to configure access by user and group and which sets filtering levels for different departments.
Benefits
Increased productivity
Protection against litigation, such as vicarious liability when employees illegally use company networks to download music or to distribute child pornography or complaints of racial and sexual harassment.
Disadvantages
Can leave you liable to prosecution under privacy laws
Lower productivity and stress problems amongst the workforce if overly intrusive
Cost
Websense's blocking software, costs about £7 per employee per year for companies with more than 50 staff,
Office Filter, created by Adscience, which says it can block more sites than many software companies as it acts on sites as they are called up, costs £35 per employee.
MailMeter (correct) from Waterford Technologies costs £8,299.
Baltimore Technologies' product Mimesweeper costs around £10 per user, depending on the number of staff. Mimesweeper consists of two packages: Mailsweeper, which monitors or blocks e-mails containing certain words, as well as pictures, attachments, web-based e-mail sites and files showing films and live events, and Websweeper, which puts blocks on web addresses and on certain sets of words within sites. The product also allows you to protect confidential information by barring certain documents from being sent to e-mail addresses outside a specified list.
WinWhatWhere's Tru Investigator product monitors every e-mail, instant message and document sent and received along with every keystroke typed on the PC where it is installed. The latest version even snaps photos from a WebCam, saves screenshots and reads keystrokes in multiple languages. The software analyses the e-mails, typically generating business reports with information on areas such as e-mail attachments, headers and domain names that e-mails are being sent to and received from. It does not read the content of e-mails. WinWhatWhere's Investigator product costs about $100 per user.
Eyetek Surveillance's corporate network monitoring software, which records e-mails and visits websites among other things, costs $495 for 10 computers.
Employers in the banking and telecommunications industry frequently monitor telephone calls to track customer satisfaction and quality control, identify training needs and keep records of exchanges in case of disputes in the future.
Companies are also increasingly using more sophisticated telephone analysis technology. In the US, some companies require their airline reservations clerks to wear telephonic headsets which monitor the length and content of all telephone calls, as well as the duration of their toilet and lunch breaks, according to an international study on privacy and human rights by pressure group Privacy International in 2003. In one case, telephone calls received by airline reservation agents were electronically monitored on a second-by-second basis, with agents only allowed 11 seconds between each call and 12 minutes of break time each day, says the study.
There are numerous sophisticated telephone surveillance systems on the market. Some can record all transactional activity on a phone, together with destination numbers and times. Other technology can then process and analyse this data, establishing patterns of use.
Benefits
Allows you to monitor performance to improve or direct staff training.
Disadvantages
Tends to be highly intrusive and cause problems of stress and reduced productivity amongst staff.
Cost
Dublin City Council , which plans to introduce a new computer system to monitor staff telephone and internet use, estimates the cost of such a system at up to £60,000, but it is confident this will pay for itself within the first year because of the anticipated efficiency savings.
It is early days in terms of organisations using biometric technology. Newham Council was criticised back in 1998 by lobby group Privacy International when it introduced the Mandrake automatic face recognition system to allow its CCTV cameras to automatically identify people 'of interest' to authorities.
But the use of biometric identity devices in the workplace is set to become more and more common, particularly now they have become more affordable.
Biometric data includes:
DNA verification
Fingerprint verification
Iris and retinal scanning
Hand geometry analysis
Facial feature scanning
Typically, biometric devices are best used as a supplement to existing systems rather than a stand-alone. Examples of use in the workplace include:
Supplementing a fingerprint scanning device on keyboards to verify the user's identity as well as requesting a password to log in to the Internet and Intranet
Replacing the use of keys or codes to enter doors with a smart card ID plus an iris scan for entry
Supplementing a network protected by a firewall with a requirement for a facial scan.
Benefits
Make duplication and fraud much more difficult because software and devices recognise distinct person rather than passwords or keys. It is virtually impossible to replicate biometric identifiers
Help prevent unauthorised access to sensitive data
Help protect the company's integrity
Minimise the hassle and costs associated with reliance on passwords, which are frequently cited as the weakest link in the security chain.
Disadvantages
Low light levels, aging, dirt and device wear can sometimes result in inaccurate readings
Employers can fall foul of discrimination laws: they should make sure they place devices at low levels to facilitate access by wheelchair users.
Smartcards, or electronic tags, which are popular with IT companies, can be used to track movements of workers around a building. The cards emit a frequency which can be read and identified by receivers located in various parts of the building, without the card having to make contact with any other machine.
There is a range of technology available such as that which allows firms to place electronic mechanisms on trucks which send the exact position of the trucks back to a central terminal to control whether drivers are making any non-authorised trips.
Closed circuit television (CCTV) tends to be used most where workers are confined to an office. There is a huge range of CCTV equipment available, from highly sophisticated systems to cameras hidden in clocks, pens, smoke detectors.
Benefits
Helps employers minimise risk of theft and other criminal conduct
Disadvantages
Can be highly intrusive and have detrimental impact on morale and productivity
Can leave employers open to prosecution under privacy laws, particularly if monitoring is covert, or in places where staff will expect privacy
Cost
Costs vary right down to £99 for small spy cameras hidden in clocks, for example, from Microelec.
Suppliers
There are many suppliers, here's a selection:
Internet and e-mail monitoring software
Adscience
Web filtering product includes Office Filter
Baltimore Technologies
E-mail tracking software such as Mimesweeper.
Elron Software
Products include Message Inspector which detects inappropriate terms in e-mails
Eyetek Surveillance
Supplies software such as Spector Corporate Network, which records e-mails, chats, websites visited, and keystrokes typed. Has software which monitors instant messaging
SurfControl
Has sophisticated web filtering software
Waterford Technologies
Websense
Websense Enterprise, used by more than 17,000 organisations worldwide is a program which blocks access to inappropriate Web pages, manages instant messaging and logs every minute staff spend on each site
WinWhatWhere (Washington, US)
Investigator, a product that monitors all PC activity including programs running and traces any files being moved, deleted or renamed. Monitors every activity including off-line games of Solitaire, what is written in chat room visits, documents printed but not saved. Customers include Exxon Mobil, Delta Air Lines and the US State Department.
Biometric technology
AND corporation (includes face scanning)
BNX Systems (formerly BioNetrix)
Digital Persona /fingerprint verification)
Identix (facial scanning) (formerly Visionics)
Its FaceIt Argus product is a facial recognition system that detects and identifies humans as they pass in front of a camera's field of view.
Iridian (iris scanning technology)
Cameras
Microelec
Supplies equipment for video surveillance
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One stop guide on employee monitoring: other sections Section one: The issue of monitoring employees Section three: Deciding whether to monitor and how Section four: Developing the right policies and practices Section five: Monitoring methods
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