As we transition more to working from home we as employees may not give a second thought to the impact this may have on our privacy or the additional liberties that our employer may feel justified to take during this transition.
With tools like Microsoft Teams and Slack increasingly becoming essential tools to help our work from home experience, we believe that we all need to open our eyes to the subtle transitions that occur which do lead to reducing our privacy without us even knowing that it's happening.
"Privacy enables us to create boundaries and protect ourselves from unwarranted interference in our lives, allowing us to negotiate who we are and how we want to interact with the world around us.
Privacy protects us from arbitrary and unjustified use of power by states, companies and other actors. It lets us regulate what can be known about us and done to us, while protecting us from others who may wish to exert control."
Quote by EachOther
Caps N Lock® was created out of an instinctive need to protect privacy from an employer who was infact very good at respecting the individuals rights. There was nothing wrong or unethical to hide from the employer. The company culture and all direct managers went above and beyond to treat employees in the company respectfully and without micro managing the work. Even so the role out of Teams felt intrusive once we realised that every other person in the organisation could see when and how long we have been "Away" from our computer.
It isn't just the culture of the company that leads to an impact on privacy but rather the tools available to each individual that allow them to stalk, watch or be alerted to another person's activity while they are in the privacy of their home. Sometimes people do things just because they can. It is up to society, employees and employers to take away the tools for those that do lose sight of right and wrong.
In using Microsoft Teams to collaborate with our colleagues we become more efficient and closer with the team as we work away from the office. This same tool is constantly tracking us to decide when we can be contacted. This part ("Available" Status) is automated and can not be over ridden by the user without a tool like the Caps N Lock® keyboard "mouse jiggler."
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