this post was submitted on 04 Sep 2023
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Privacy Guides

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In the digital age, protecting your personal information might seem like an impossible task. We’re here to help.

This is a community for sharing news about privacy, posting information about cool privacy tools and services, and getting advice about your privacy journey.


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[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

How can I check if my laptop has such software installed?

[–] [email protected] 18 points 1 year ago (1 children)

If it's a work laptop, treat it like it has tracking software on it. Don't use your work computer for personal stuff that you don't want your employer to see. Period.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Well, thx. But this was not my question.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

As there are dozens of different ways to track different stuff, this can't be answered easily. Try to open the task manager and examine the processes is a start.

But that's only for tracking software. You could also examine the data you create Server-Side and just assume stuff. Like: you are away in teams and you haven't touched files in Sharepoint for 60mins, so we assume you don't work right now.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Yes, but my point is that you're asking a flawed question. It's possible for us to give you a bunch of different services or processes to look for, but it's trivial for these companies to just make a new service or process with a different name that's harder to find. You're trying to play a cat and mouse game that you're not going to win.

I work in IT. Most of our clients' computers are managed by an MDM, which means that we can push ANY package or software to the computer at ANY time, without notifying the user. Most of our clients don't bother with tracking software, but some do. And make no mistake, tracking software is basically legal spyware.

So, my point is this: it doesn't matter whether or not you have evidence of tracking software on your computer. Just assume that it's there, and don't use your computer for anything you don't want your employer to see. That is the safest route.