Things to tell Your Kid & Employee before Spying on Them

There is a debate happening these days whether you should spy on your kids and employees. The parents and employers agreed to enforce monitoring on digital devices. Let me make you clear here! We are talking about snooping on your kid’s and employee’s devices connected to the internet. We all know that technology has become advanced, and plenty of spying apps out there allow parents and employers to watch everything a kid and employee is doing on a cellphone, PCs, and computing devices.

For some employers and parents, it is easy to think to get their hands on the monitoring solutions. But most of them think that does a child or employee has a right to privacy. We know that privacy could dodge parents’ and employer’s desire to protect kids and businesses. What kids and employees are doing on digital devices no one knows about it, but employers and parents have a spy eye on their targeted devices.

Tech-savvy Parents & employers say that kids and employees cannot hide anything from them. Parents are so curious to know what kids are doing on the mobile. Employers other side are insecure to know what employees are doing on business devices.

Parents have different headaches compare to employers, so do this debate separately. However! There is a question can it do more harm Than Good? There are things to tell your kids and employee before spying on them.

Following things clear your stance to your kids why online safety is necessary. Why are you going to spy on their cellphone devices? Moreover, you may not need to snoop into your kid’s phone if they understand your concerns. Let’s discuss the things that you have to tell before spying on a kid’s cellphone.

Your child to make smart moves on the internet. They should go for age-appropriate choices while using a cellphone connected to the internet. They have to be critical of everything they do online, especially when browsing websites using social networks. Further, avoid confrontation with the people online and remain kind and polite. They should know when civility online is a duty and when it is a trap for them.

Parents need to aware of kids that should not involve in cyber bullying and stay away from online predators that try to bully them online. If they have seen people bullying on the web, they should avoid the following things:

• Don’t join bullies online and laugh at the victim
• Leave the webpage on social media active with bullies
• Report the cyber-bullying activity
• Request other fellows on social media to report it to abuse
• Always stand with the victim

You can teach your kids that how they can recognize cyber predators. You can guide your child on how they can judge the intentions of the predators online. They use fake accounts and profiles, and it is tough for kids to know whom they are talking at the moment. However, the following signs can make a difference to know about cyber predators.

• They sound too nice
• Stalkers & sex –offenders want to talk in private
• They usually ask for personal information
• Mostly predators knows about kids by stalking social media profiles, likes and dislikes of teens
• Cyber predators always be in your favor
• They try to make you feel special
• They pressurize you to meet in person

Make some ground roles after handing over cellphone devices connected to the internet. You can set a time limit by taking your child into confidence. You can do authoritative parenting for young kids, but authoritarian with teens. Make your child aware of the roles and set penalties if they violate the roles against cellphone and internet usage.

Talk to your teens and young kids about cyber bullying and advise them not to keep silent if someone has bullied them online. You need to encourage your child to tell you everything if they have experienced something inappropriate on the web using digital devices connected to cyberspace. You can teach your child that they should not respond to abusive language, random messages, and many more.

Parents should discuss the difference between cellphone usage and phone addiction. You can guide your teens and children on the maximum time they can spend on mobile devices connected to the internet. You can tell children don’t send the least worthy messages and make calls with friends unless they have a job to do. You can discuss with kids how cellphone addiction causes health issues.

It is necessary to discuss with your kids how they use social media on digital devices. Parents should lead kids by example. Guide your child that they don’t share their privacy with anyone on social media. They should avoid sharing contacts, school names, home addresses, private photos, and videos. Teach your teens to keep social media profiles at custom mode.

You can discuss with your teens that people can send them sexually suggestive content on their social media profiles to groom them online. They need to avoid anything related to nude and sexually violent content. You should discuss with your child that how online predators can approach them online and what things they would share with you to groom you sexually. You can block all the profiles that sending you inappropriate content on their social media profiles.

Parents can give them an advice that they should go to any place with friends with their consent. They should not hide whereabouts from parents. Tell your child they are the only true well–wisher in an emergency situation. Kids should tell parents where they used to go with friends and why they spend so much time over there.

You can discuss with teens that dating is not a bad thing. Parents get to know to whom they used to meet. Moreover, discuss the dangers involved in online dating and then meeting with unknown people in person. You can give them streaming media reports that how many teens have lost their lives and dignity due to blind dates and sexual hookups with strangers.

Privacy is not necessary for kids, but teens unless they are using their phones and can manage their lives, says Sandra Petronio, a professor of communication studies and director of the Communication Privacy Management Center at Indiana University.

According to the Gartner report, in more than 239 large businesses, 50% were spying on employees. They were tracking emails, social media accounts, and whom they met with, and how they were using business devices. Accenture survey of C-suite has revealed that 62% of business firms have used tools to collect employee data.

The reports clearly say that employers do have the right to spy on employees. Employers do have legitimate reasons to monitor workforce activities during working hours.

However, business firms should tell employees before snooping them!

Employers should openly discuss monitoring software they are using on business devices. You have to communicate with them what you are spying on and why. Get your employee’s feedback and share the monitoring results, like screenshots of their work, PC screen recording, and keystrokes they have used during the communication on social messaging apps. You can tell your employees how messaging apps fit for corporate communication under monitoring tools.

The experts say 30% of employees feel comfortable when employers spy on emails, Gartner report. The report further reveals that employers who have taken their employees into confidence got 50% of employee’s positive feedback.

Tell your employees you are not using monitoring and surveillance tools as a method of oppression. You can explain to them it would do better and figure out how employees can become more productive and disciplined. You can announce that productive employees will get the reward and goldbrickers would have penalties. Tell your employees that you are spying on them to offer carrots and sticks at the same time. You can figure out your best employees out of the blue and reward them in front of lazy employees and motivate them too.

An employer should alarm employees about the methods of spying tools active on the business equipment and environment. You can guide your employees that computer devices, cellphones, computer cameras, emails, and social networks are under your surveillance. Moreover, you can discuss the data backups you have created for the security of the intellectual property. It would explain it is all about productivity, security, and discipline.

You can organize a workshop on email spying. You can create awareness among employees that why bosses spy on emails. You can explain how scams and malware can destroy and breach business data via emails. Weak email password makes hackers steal your credentials, and how come a business could lose business data. You can further explain how it is necessary to secure the business emails. Email spying enables the employer to keep a check and balance on employees when an employee sending emails to clients.

You can tell your junior employees that they will not disproportionately be affected by surveillance tools. You can take your junior employees into confidence that spying on employees would not be discriminatory. You can lead your employees with the example that even your phones and PCs are not spare from shriveling tools. Monitoring tools would work on business executives, and there would be an unbiased committee work as a watchdog.

You can tell your employees how business-owned phones are more likely to become the target of hackers and cyber-attacks. You can convey a message to your workforce that they should not use business phones for private activity. Moreover, discuss controlling the computer microphones and cameras spying. You can guide your employees that it is beneficial because spying tools would count their working time on the business devices. Further, it will get rid of workplace arguments and discrimination, and workplace harassment.

You can have a few words about why using a GPS location tracker on employees during working hours. You can alert your workforce that you are taking their GPS under surveillance when going outside the business premises for official work. It will track them down to know whether they are present in their deployed workplace.

An employer can discuss monitoring tools, computer screen recording. You can tell your employees it will record your PCs and computer screen secretly and send live visuals to you. It helps you out to know how productive your employees are during working hours. You can explain it helps you out to know about those employees who are making efforts. However, it will catch those that are goldbrickers and willingly delay assigned tasks.

Spying on employees is understandable in a tech-world. You should discuss and calm your employees by telling them where you will pull back the monitoring tools.  Take your workforce into confidence that they are your valuable assets. You can explain how monitoring is necessary for business security and productivity. Tell your employees you will not monitor them working from home and after working hours. Tell them you are not a police or an agent, and you are trying to benefit them by taking their work progress under consideration.

Spying on kids and employees has become necessary in no time ever before. However, under the circumstances, no one should involve in intrusive and illicit surveillance. Parents and employers should discuss few things with kids and employees before snooping on kids and employees.