

Who's watching you? - ph0rque
http://blog.bubbletimer.com/2009/05/15/whos-watching-you

======
webwright
To go on record here: it was a really hard decision for us to try this, but we
felt there was a huge and eager audience there that was looking for a solution
that was a little more restricted than what we were selling. Interestingly
(and happily) 80% of businesses that monitor employees (and 75% of 'em do,
supposedly) actually do it in the open. So I think what businesses wanted was
a cheaper/lighter version that was entirely manager focused and didn't offer
quite as many employee controls. It's a good alternative to stuff like
Spectorsoft (<shiver>).

The absolutely _awesome_ part of this is by offering the more restricted
version, we've seen a notable increase in the open version (which is the one
we really believe in).

So far, we're guardedly optimistic that this is a net positive for us and for
the world... But we're still plenty anxious about it!

~~~
asciilifeform
> So I think what businesses wanted was a cheaper/lighter version that was
> entirely manager focused and didn't offer quite as many employee controls

Know this: you are selling lighter, stronger, cheaper, etc. manacles for the
powerful to chain up the powerless. Justify it however you like.

Not all technology is morally neutral:

[http://vinay.howtolivewiki.com/blog/global/the-second-
amendm...](http://vinay.howtolivewiki.com/blog/global/the-second-amendment-in-
iraq-combat-robotics-and-the-future-of-human-liberty-820)

In order to make a buck, you are shifting the balance of power from workers
towards their exploiters. Do you deny this?

~~~
webwright
Just saw this-- dunno if you'll see my response.

I think you're being ridiculous-- I don't say that too often to people.

First of all, painting employers as exploiters is ridiculous. Many of them
aren't. The "balance of power" has nothing to do with RescueTime-- it has to
do with how in-demand you and your skills are. If you are unexceptional, you
have very little power.

If I, as an employer, say "Part of working here means that we keep track of
how you spend your time on the computer", I don't see that as being ethically
different than saying that you have to fill out a timesheet. It's just
automated and accurate rather than painstaking and subjective. I also don't
see it as morally different to measuring code check-ins, lines of code
written, punching a timecard, or measuring the number of widgets you build on
an assembly line per day. It's just data.

Bad managers can abuse software like this. Bad managers can also abuse
employee review processes, boilerplate employment agreements, and lots of
other things.

Good managers, on the other hand, can benefit from software like this. They
can understand when employees don't have enough to do (the 2nd most common
reason people quit just after being micromanaged), they can understand how a
lousy new team-lead is hurting team engagement/productivity, and more.

Time is a resource, like money. Tracking how it's spent isn't evil.

------
tptacek
It's an overreaction. We clearly don't like that our use of employers
computers is monitored. But it isn't reasonable to expect that we'd have so
much privacy on those computers that our managers wouldn't be allowed to see
how we're spending our time. Just because we don't like it, doesn't mean it's
wrong.

Of course, we're all free to work for companies that promise not to perform
this kind of monitoring.

~~~
aristus
It's not an overreaction. It's an ad that attacks a competitor. :)

~~~
tptacek
He asked if it was, and I gave him the benefit of the doubt.

------
mannicken
Definitely not over-reacting. I'd say that's under-reacting. Going to job
everyday to work under an eye of an overseer selling best days of your life to
some corporate schmuck.

Now excuse me while I go work on my side business even more as this was
incredibly fucking motivating.

------
ph0rque
There is a surprisingly even, respectful, and intellectual discussion going on
at the original post between Tony Wright and Sean Johnson, respective owners
of RescueTime and BubbleTimer. I would urge you to read through it.

------
asciilifeform
> Unlike many professions where ethical decisions must be made everyday... we
> in the software business are often (though not always) engaged in ethically
> inert pursuits

This attitude is the real problem. There scarcely exists such a thing as an
ethically inert pursuit. I am reminded of a proposal I once read for something
like a Hippocratic Oath for programmers:

<http://glyf.livejournal.com/46589.html>

