Among the most common workplace softwares like Controlio for employee monitoring tools are keyloggers and keystroke counters. Employees must know the differences between the two because each one has its merits and disadvantages before someone decides on which one to choose.
Now, talking about these technologies of monitoring involves two aspects: perplexity-the complexity of the text-and burstiness-the fluctuations of sentences. Keystroke counters can capture all the keystrokes that are registered on a computer keyboard, including private data like usernames and passwords. This may depict a pretty all-inclusive view of what the employees are doing, but this also opens up the door for privacy issues and entry into that employee’s personal space. Keystroke counters merely count the number of keystrokes; they do not capture the text of those keystrokes. This is actually a more sensitive and less obtrusive technique for tracking productivity in certain work settings.
On the advantages and disadvantages of the two keyloggers and keystroke counters, there is a need for weighing productivity and privacy on the part of employers. They also have to make sure that their monitoring activities are in accordance with applicable laws and rules. The article discusses the advantages and disadvantages of both monitoring technologies, plus recommendations on which is most suitable for your company. We are going to analyze this extremely important subject with a helpful dose of humor in our writing.
Employee monitoring has gradually become very popular in the modern workplace simply because most firms are keenly interested in monitoring workers’ levels of output and complying with company policies. However, there are various forms of monitoring techniques and it is basic to understand just how they differ from one another. Among the two most popular forms of monitoring software, these are the keyloggers and keystroke counters.
A keylogger is basically a software that keeps a record of all keystrokes hit on a computer keyboard. That means it captures usernames, passwords, and any other confidential information input by the user. Although keyloggers can be useful to monitor productivity levels, they have found immoral applications in collecting people’s confidential data. Hence, they often cause deep privacy issues and are regarded as an invasive tool.
However, keystroke counters are simply programmed to track how many keystrokes an employee makes. The substance of the keystrokes is not recorded since they do not log the substance of the keystrokes. For example, keystroke counters could be an effective means of tracking productivity without violating any employee’s privacy as they are less intrusive than keyloggers.
Before deciding between a keylogger and a keystroke counter, employers should consider the potential dangers to the privacy of employees weighed against the good reason of increased productivity. Monitoring activities must be made legal compliant by all employers. The bottom line is that a balanced, healthy and productive workplace depends on how to reach the right equilibrium between privacy and efficiency.
Important points learned: Although employee monitoring in the workplace has become common, the different techniques used differ.
All keystrokes done from the computer keyboard will be recorded by the keyloggers, including very sensitive information like username and password. These can be considered as invasive.
Keystroke counters will be less intrusive in that they will only count the number of keystrokes produced, not take an exact record of what those keystrokes contain.
To make decisions in choosing monitoring technology, employers are often faced with the task of seeking a balance between privacy and productivity.
Monitoring by employers has to be in conformity with all applicable laws and regulations.