Microsoft is waging a war on privacy?
Microsoft has launched "productivity score," a feature that allows managers to use Microsoft 365 to track the activity of their employees. But some privacy experts say …
After Amazon's patent for the electronic employee bracelet , another tech giant is grappling with workplace surveillance.
In October, Microsoft launched Productivity Score : a new feature that allows employers to track employee daily activities.
The Redmond-based tech giant describes its "Productivity Score" tool as "a new service that can help accelerate digital transformation by providing insight into how your organization works."
Privacy advocates disagree as they warn that the new feature could open a new era of workplace surveillance.
According to some critics, the Productivity score allows managers to use Microsoft 365 to monitor the activity of their employees.
As Dr Claudia Pagliari, Researcher in Digital Health at the University of Edinburgh, noted to the Guardian , employee surveillance "has really increased" along with remote working during the coronavirus pandemic, as companies seek greater supervision of workers out of the office.
All the details.
WHAT IS MICROSOFT'S PRODUCTIVITY SCORE
The Productivity Score tool is designed to "give you visibility into how your organization works," according to a Microsoft blog post , and aggregate information on how their employees use the Microsoft 365 suite of tools. From email use to connectivity network, in a major percentage for office productivity.
The system then assigns an organization a "productivity score" of 800 over a 28-day period, which it can compare with the scores of other companies in its industry.
THE MANAGER CAN ALSO VERIFY THE DATA OF THE INDIVIDUAL EMPLOYEE
But by default, reports also allow managers to dig deeper into data on individual employees.
For example, an employer can look at how much time a specific person spent in Microsoft Outlook in the past 28 days or how much time they spent sending direct messages in Microsoft Teams .
THE MONITORED FUNCTIONS
The office manager will then know who participates least in group chat conversations, sends fewer emails, or does not collaborate in shared documents.
The Productivity Score tool can also identify people who are not using the camera during video conference meetings on Teams, as well as the amount of time people spend online.
CRITICISM RAISED
Some privacy experts have raised concerns about the tool.
"This is so problematic on many levels," tweeted Austrian privacy researcher Wolfie Christl, who first criticized Microsoft's function, which was then picked up by numerous media outlets.
Christl said it "turns Microsoft 365 into a full-fledged workplace surveillance tool."
“This productivity suite lacks transparency and does not inform employees or require their consent. Companies like Microsoft shouldn't incentivize employers to turn their office suites into surveillance machines that violate employee dignity, ”Eliot Bendinelli of Privacy International told Business Insider .
This is so problematic at many levels:
– Managers evaluating individual-level employee data is a no go
– Any evaluation of group 'productivity' data can also shift power from employees to organizations
– Employee self control via MyAnalytics is the first step to normalization– Wolfie Christl (@WolfieChristl) November 24, 2020
DEFAULT SETTING
In particular Christl pointed out that although employers are able to turn off individual employee tracking, it is on by default when they first upload it.
MICROSOFT: "WE ARE COMMITTED TO PRIVACY"
“We are committed to privacy as a fundamental element of the Productivity score,” explained Jared Spataro, vice president of Microsoft 365, in the blog post on October 29th .
"Let me be clear: the productivity score is not a work monitoring tool," Spataro stressed. "The productivity score is about discovering new ways of working, providing your employees with great collaboration and technology experiences."
THE DEFENSE OF THE TECHNOLOGICAL COLOSSUS OF REDMOND
But after the criticisms raised in recent days, Microsoft is back on the subject.
“The Productivity Score is a participatory experience that gives IT administrators detailed insight into the use of technology and infrastructure. The insights are intended to help organizations get the most out of their technology investments by addressing common pain points such as long startup times, inefficient document collaboration, or poor network connectivity. The information is shown in aggregate form over a 28-day period and is provided at the user level so that an IT administrator can provide technical support and guidance, ”the company led by Satya Nadella wrote.
PANDEMICS, SMART WORKING AND PRODUCTIVITY MONITORING
Working from home during the pandemic highlighted the problems of surveillance in the workplace. As Business Insider pointed out, Gartner's analysis published in June found that 16% of employers were using tools to do things like monitor emails and work computer usage.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/innovazione/microsoft-fa-guerra-alla-privacy/ on Mon, 30 Nov 2020 13:52:47 +0000.