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.
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.