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Big Brother's best intentions are open to abuse
Where you are, what you're doing and who you're doing it with… your boss is about to learn a lot more than what's written on your CV

By silicon.com

Published: Wednesday 16 July 2003

This week Computer Associates unveiled a technology which may well revolutionise office security – both physical and digital.

eTrust 20/20 will monitor and aggregate data relating to employees' actions from the moment they swipe their card at the front door at the start of the day to the moment they do it at the end of the day – taking in network activity and movements around the office along the way.

The software will instantly flag up anomalies in this activity which might threaten the security of a company but it will also raise serious concerns about Big Brother’s interference in our lives. It will be an all-seeing eye in our working lives.

This is likely to be incredibly unpopular. But it's worth saying this is not a problem with Computer Associates. This is a genuinely useful software which will monitor, and therefore help to prevent, every kind of security breach on a company's premises and networks. By cross referencing all data within the system 20/20 will provide insight into the likely threats posed to companies.

The problem arises with the companies who will be implementing this technology – not all will do it solely to improve security. The improvement of security is often a euphemism which disguises an intent to tighten already stringent monitoring of staff within some organisations and sectors.

There are also serious legal implications here regarding the retention of data, authorising access to that data and employee rights.

To repeat, CA's hands are clean – this isn't even the gun manufacturer analogy which some people have been tempted to draw. We can't criticise security companies every time they release a product which companies will abuse.

But abuse it they will. Staff morale will plummet as workers realise that taking too many trips to the toilet on a day when they also sent a few emails to friends is likely to spark a chain of events which could lead to their dismissal.