I wonder how many employer-provided laptops are secretly recording video or audio for WFH staff. You can tape over a webcam, but what do you do about a microphone you don't trust?
The problem with microphones is that unlike cameras they are absolutely impossible to detect. And then there are all these devices that look and act like another thing but they're also microphones. Microphony is so pervasive that it is harder to make something that does not record soundwaves than it is to make something that does.
Surely employers don't add hidden microphones to laptops? I mean, it's not impossible, but I never worked for anyone who did stuff like that. I can certainly believe employers would add some monitoring software to turn your mic on all the time, but you can find it from the laptop model.
That's not really the point. Employers add software to monitor. How that software works internally they are probably clueless about and if that software decides it wants a live audio stream then it has many alternative pathways.
Probably not many. I would not want to be recording the off-the-cuff conversations of my employees should those recordings be part of discovery in a lawsuit.
"and if your employees try to obfuscate and turn on disrupting noise in the background, our proprietary AI helps filter that so you always know how productive your employees are being"
It’s why I used to wipe out the whole OS and install linux plus the bootloader too, and justify it with my own set of toolset and custom settings for my work.
The problem with microphones is that unlike cameras they are absolutely impossible to detect. And then there are all these devices that look and act like another thing but they're also microphones. Microphony is so pervasive that it is harder to make something that does not record soundwaves than it is to make something that does.
Surely employers don't add hidden microphones to laptops? I mean, it's not impossible, but I never worked for anyone who did stuff like that. I can certainly believe employers would add some monitoring software to turn your mic on all the time, but you can find it from the laptop model.
That's not really the point. Employers add software to monitor. How that software works internally they are probably clueless about and if that software decides it wants a live audio stream then it has many alternative pathways.
Shut your work devices off at the end of the work day.
Your work-specific WiFi network can also be shut off at the same time.
Devices go in a sleeve or drawer in your desk, which is usually in a separate room.
You can also close the door.
If you need more work and personal life separation than this, you might need a new job.
Probably not many. I would not want to be recording the off-the-cuff conversations of my employees should those recordings be part of discovery in a lawsuit.
In Silo people would run tap water to avoid being listened to.
Wonder if that helps.
Any kind of competing noise can help but if I thought my work laptop was doing that then I would store it away from my home.
"and if your employees try to obfuscate and turn on disrupting noise in the background, our proprietary AI helps filter that so you always know how productive your employees are being"
Yeah, it probably helps a lot less now than it would have when "cleaning up the audio" meant having someone manually adding notch filters.
Unless you explicitly consent this is illegal in many places.
I would not be surprised if it's north of 70%.
It’s why I used to wipe out the whole OS and install linux plus the bootloader too, and justify it with my own set of toolset and custom settings for my work.
If they are going to this level, doing that on work computer is probably impossible and even if it is, it's termination event.
white noise?