Got a new job. Its all good. Fun work, great colleagues and good pay. However, last week they mandated some new surveillance tech so all network traffic is unencrypted, logged, stored and analyzed.

Should I stay or should I go? I am big into privacy. What would you do?

You have a work laptop?
Seperate personal and work.

Privacy is overrated. If you're quitting because of this you're an idiot

If you’re only doing work on work time then it wouldn’t be an issue

It can get worse. Like some cunt in IT now asking why you need to update Linux or shit like that. Or you have to get permission to use a new compiler. I get it that some places need this kind of security, but it can make doing work a lot harder.

It will get even worse if IT goes to training about the: insider threat. This is where every employee is now the enemy.

@Demolishun that's way worse. We didn't get root password for a while at an employer. Hacked it in no time

Use your own device. Distraction is a key ingredient to a creative mind. And that they don't watch you watching kitten watching someone shooting at a poster showing Biden fucking Trump in the arse is just a basic human right. They wouldn't get it anyways...

But there are obviously industries where they don't tolerate you using your own device for the job. But you can still have your own device in addition to the device used for the actual job. And today, you could even get online without using their network (but if they let you use it, just use that and tunnel everything through a VPN, so they don't see the real connection end points).

And yes, you could just go somewhere else. But a good environment combined with good pay may be hard to find again.

@Oktokolo I think Biden will be the bottom

@retoor I don't think, he could survive that.

@Oktokolo that's hot

@retoor The kitten probably thinks so too.

@Oktokolo for the kitten it was all fun and games until he got used as cumrag afterwards

@retoor Nah, Trump's hair was cumrag enough. No kitten where harmed in that video.

@retoor "Privacy is overrated" - prove it. publicate all your personal information. including full name&address, bank account info, bloodgroup and list of fetishes.

@tosensei that's not data for company network. I said overrated, not useless

@Oktokolo @Demolishun can't use linux since we're not allowed (i hate windows). Also can't use my own device since I'm not allowed. Only cellphone as long as I go to the office. When I work from home obviously I can use two devices but that is just kind of annoying.

I dont mind that they check the network for security threats obviously but when they decrypt and log my passwords, tokens etc that feels like a few steps too far for the work I'm doing.

Also sometimes I need to travel in my work, that means my credit card info would be logged even if I only purchase work related stuff on it.

@Demolishun I think the tool is just about protecting them against the insider threat pretty much. We must ask for permission to be allowed to use new services. Stuff like ngrok is blocked and not allowed.

Not used to this kind of controlling behaviour from employers.

@retoor lol why? I could most likely find a place with similar (perhaps better) salary and benefits without surveillance. A place where I can chose laptop and equipment myself and install linux on it.

I think to add some context my biggest concern is that since several people complain about it and they don't care, that means they probably wouldn't care about the next topic either whatever that may be.

I don't like to be economically dependant on something that can decide bad things for me and I have no say in the matter.

In my opinion, everything you do at the company’s time using the company’s laptop while on the company’s network belongs to the company.

You use a password to log in to the company’s git? It’s theirs, as long as they ensure that you are never blamed for someone burning the repository using your password, as it is available to everyone now.

You use a password manager? It’s theirs. Don’t reuse your personal passwords for work.

Don’t access LinkedIn/glass door while at work. Use a work SO account.

Need time and clearance to install something to solve a big problem? Apply for it, and don’t do shit about till you get things approved.

There shouldn’t be any “privacy” here.
It’s all owned by the company.

If they ask me for my own private stuff, I’ll probably leave immediately. If they stealthily take anything private from me, I’ll probably set the offices (and people) on fire.

Very simple.

@nanobot well first off, I totally disagree and I wonder if you think they own your thoughts while on company time as well? If not, what about listening on your conversations with your colleagues? Or why not install a surveillance camera in the bathroom stalls?

Second, they didnt announce they were doing it, they sent out an update and it was discovered by a colleague.

In my opinion, they pay me for the output and my skills and my input in different matters but they do not own me or my passwords. An employment is a contract that goes both ways. Thus, it's a breach of trust to spy on me. I would like to be treated as an adult, not like a child requiring constant supervision.

Don’t be hasty, there are many ways to watch porn without anyone knowing.

@ecmascript well if you are using the company computer to “think” and your brain is connected to the company network while thinking, we need new laws and morals for that situation.

When you say “you disagree” with something, the example you disagree with should be something the proponent included in their idea. You cannot invent random stuff and say you disagree with me on the random stuff.

Camera in toilets is a very different thing, unless you are creating the urine or the urinary system using company resources (does company coffee count? IDK).

Your penis belongs to you, not the company.
Your thoughts belong to you, not the company.
Your thoughts that you write down on a company computer belongs to the company.
Your code that you write using company laptop belongs to the company.

If you don’t like being transparent in your chats with the colleague, that’s your prerogative. (It’s a horribly asinine shit act to read private employee to employee chats, but they can do so without risking “morality”). In fact, it helps document a lot of interactions and thought processes that generally get lost.

Conflating one issue with another really doesn’t help. I understand that you received the shitty end of the deal, and that’s true, and I’m not justifying what they did. All I am saying is we should probably keep our private stuff out of work. No matter how many times they say “we are a family”, they aren’t.

You are better off, they didn’t install a software that takes screenshots at random intervals of your screen.

Those are the biggest assholes.

@ecmascript Judging by how they acted, you indeed should not expect any change for the better. Find a better work environment using your own device.

Never do anything personal on that machine, and never connect it to your devices or networks without proper protection. Even if it means you work less efficiently.

Fyi as a follow up. I decided to look for a new job and got hired. Got a small salary increase as well.

It all worked out for the best 🙂, never settle