Software watches errant workers

A Lithuanian technology firm has introduced controversial new software that allows managers to secretly monitor and record their employees' computer screens.

UAB Optiva released Lithuanian- and English-language versions of its Boss Eye program in early March and has already sold licenses to nine small and mid-sized local companies.

The company hopes the product's unique real-time functionality will help it reach foreign markets as well.

Optiva Deputy Director Arvydas Juskevicius said that, unlike similar programs made elsewhere, Boss Eye permitted second-by-second viewing of the actual image of each employee's computer screen.

"Think of the worst state of affairs you can imagine, and that is just what we found," Juskevicius quoted one client as saying after a first review of how employees were wasting company time by surfing the Internet, playing games or exchanging personal e-mails.Boss Eye works through a company's computer network. The software, which carries a $50 fee and can be downloaded from Optiva's Web site, resides on an observation terminal, requires a at least a 200 megahertz Pentium processor and about 100 megabytes of free hard-disk space.

Optiva recommends that watched computers run on at least 100 megahertz processors with 2 MB of free disk space.

The manager is able to view a full-sized or reduced image of any employee's computer screen, updated at the chosen interval. The manager can also record the images for later review.

Juskevicius admits that many workers complain that the program was a violation of their privacy.

"Some companies simply don't tell their employees they are being watched and consequently workers make no reaction," he said. "The program only has a very slight impact on computer performance and in such a way that a user would never be able to tell he was being observed."

Some firms notify employees that their work could be monitored, sometimes posting special stickers on terminals, which warn: "Your work is being watched by Boss Eye."

"A privacy issue has emerged, but there is no law to regulate this in Lithuania," Juskevicius said. "Of course it is uncomfortable for employees, but the way we see it, the work day is work time, not private time. It's normal for a company to make sure people actually work all the time they are being paid for."

Juskevicius claims that efficiency gains are not in fact very closely related to how intensively computers are watched. According to him, just installing such a program and letting workers know that they could be observed at any time is a great motivator.

Optiva began operations in 1994. Since 2000 the company has focused exclusively on computer programming services. It is presently seeking foreign partners to help market and distribute its products outside Lithuania.