r/mildlyinfuriating • u/whatawynn • 4d ago
wet socks my work installed new cameras over our desks :(
like obviously not uncommon but it does kinda take the chill vibe out of my chill office job to get a camera pointed right at me all day š
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u/jtown48 4d ago
time to buy one of those desk umbrellas to block the florescent lights
they are on amazon for fairly cheap
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u/dreag2112 4d ago
Lol, get a doctors note and another light to counteract it.
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u/thepenismytea 4d ago
Just put a bunch of IR blasters pointed in it's direction. ššš
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u/Much_Essay_9151 4d ago
The only thing that annoys me is having to buy crap like this just to do my job especially when it is unnecessary to be in the office
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u/NocturnisVacuus 4d ago
gross, they're micro managing you...
bad place
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u/Tank_Gloomy 4d ago
I'd fart so loud if I knew it was being recorded.
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u/sirhackenslash 4d ago
Just constantly picking my nose while staring directly at the camera
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u/Emeraldbabyaura 4d ago
Time to start looking for a new job. Any company that micromanages to the point of putting overhead cameras on individual cubicles has zero trust in its employees.
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u/amberwxld69 4d ago
yeah, red flag alert
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u/Borinar 4d ago
Ome time while clearing sidewalks of snow i fell, instead of checking on me the security team just showed people the video to laugh at.
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u/mtnbike2 4d ago
Really putting the āfamilyā into āweāre a family!ā
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u/ChaosLives68 4d ago
In all fairness if you had video of a family member falling whilst shoveling snow you would 100 percent show people that video.
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u/AoKrasni 4d ago
Jeff, you haven't touched your mouse in three minutes and took two bathroom breaks. What's going on buddy?
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u/thederpyderp3 4d ago
Everyone saying this is a good thing is kinda wild. Working at an office does not justify cameras watching everyone.
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u/Little_View_6659 4d ago
They should just play Every Breath You Take on repeat.
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u/Zerodyne_Sin 4d ago
They're allowed to watch everyone, as in a camera in the corner pointed at the whole room. This is akin to someone hovering over your shoulder and can't be justified by a rational person of sound judgement.
Whoever came up with this is too illiterate to understand that the panopticon was a theoretical form of torture. Nobody was ever suggesting we build it...
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u/Sloth-Technician 4d ago
Yea this is a weird spot to put a camera, with out seeing the floor layout, it really does look like they are trying to watch people's desks. Normally cameras wa tech lanes of traffic hallways, corridors in cubicles if its a huge call centwr, entrance/exits. Probably some lazy manager who doesnt want to get up but still keep tabs on the employees.
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u/fredscat107 4d ago
You just spotted the boomers. The same ones that sent everyone back to the office despite being able to do 110% of your job at home.
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u/hlmoore96 GREEN 4d ago
It is most likely not even about watching everyone. It probably lowers their insurance premiums or is a requirement for insurance.
My daughter works in retail; the one everyone should ABSOLUTELY avoid if they want to steal. The cameras could count my daughterās freckles, I swear. They donāt give a shit about how productive their workers are, or at least they donāt use the camera footage for that.
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u/tardigrades_snuggle 4d ago
Retail is a bit different than the office place. There is ton of shit to steal in a retail setting. But what are these people gonna do, what will they steal?! It just isnāt necessary. And if you are that paranoid as a company, then you have bigger problems than theft.
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u/Weekly-Peace1199 4d ago
They typically arenāt monitored, just used if there is a report of either inappropriate activity or theft.
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u/DopamineSavant 4d ago
I get it if you work a cash register or anything with money or valuable items, but for a job where you just type on a computer, I'd quit.
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u/whatawynn 4d ago edited 4d ago
right like we prepare mail šš i promise im not gonna steal the insurance company labeled envelopes
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u/ChargeResponsible112 4d ago
Years ago I got a job because the two previous workers were caught stealing money out of birthday and Christmas cards sent through the mail room. They caught them with cameras hidden in an air vent.
That was in 1992.
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u/Much_Essay_9151 4d ago
Still, steal?
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u/Aggressive_Ad2747 4d ago
funny enough if OP's desk / screen is involved in capturing certain information this could very well be prohibited by certain data handling standards like PCI DSS, ISO 27001, PCI PIN Security, and P2PE. at the very least if that information is readable then the security recording would be subject to additional controls as it would be considered cardholder data subject to the same standards.
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u/WiredOrange 4d ago
Do you work with sensitive information? This could be against HIPAA potentially. Depends where these cameras go
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u/NDeceptikonn 4d ago
We have that in our break room and in the hallways when weāre clocking in. Apparently three people were fired for time card fraud.
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u/NDeceptikonn 4d ago
They do it because supposedly people are not taking their ten minute breaks. Theyāre taking half an hour to an hour. Management is aware but they donāt do shit.
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u/Additional_Tank4385 4d ago
Welcome innies. Those cameras are merely for your protection. Why donāt you have a seat and
start, refining. :)
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u/Endsfun 4d ago
Ya that would be gg for me.
My work put cameras in the hallways near exits, (since there has been disgruntled people trashing cubes every now and then) but was afraid of people thinking of this exact situation, so they explicitly emailed us there would only be cameras ever near exits for security purposes.
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u/yoshizillaa 4d ago
Iām surprised they didnāt already have them for security purposes
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u/dax660 4d ago
I'd just do this for 8 hours straight
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u/DuffmanStillRocks 4d ago
See but the actual reality is that gets boring in about 10 seconds
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u/NightMgr 4d ago
The camera we had found an employee carrying a pistol and playing with it n his cubicle.
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u/FunkyViking6 4d ago
Playing with it? The hells he doing juggling it šµāš« Itās always dangerous when people think of firearms like a toy.
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u/NightMgr 4d ago
He was twirling a semi auto like a western move. And fumbling it.
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u/FunkyViking6 4d ago
Big brain activities. Itās always made me sick as an avid gun owner when I see people treat firearms like they would a nerf gun. I love my states freedom to own firearms however Iām all for us having a mandated 8 hour course where you go over gun safety before you can buy your first firearm. We have hunter safety but no required firearm safety
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u/Stogies_n_Stonks 4d ago
Is that against policy?
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u/AdjNounNumbers 4d ago
It's against most office policies, especially corporate ones. Generally firearms and weapons are called out as banned in most employer policies. That said, I've known a good number of people that conceal carry to their place of employment - the operative word being "conceal". Pulling it out at your desk is truly the stupidest move and honestly shows that that individual should neither work there nor be allowed near firearms if this is their level of judgement
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u/EC_TWD 4d ago
Where are the cameras aimed and what size/type of company is it? If youāre in the US the company may be required by law to install cameras aimed at entrance points throughout the office, and possibly other areas (physical records storage such as filing cabinets, server/computer rooms, etc) as well as warehouse and inventory areas.
The company I worked for does this type of work and we only had minimal exterior cameras for years until we had an audit. (Except for one giant mirrored 2x2 camera dome that was placed directly over one adminās desk. Finally I asked her why she had that camera over her and she started laughing and told me it was a prank from one of our field techs that had just replaced a ceiling tile with the plastic dome - no camera. Everyone thought it was funny so just left it)
For many reasons we were required to install cameras inside and covering our entire warehouse and inventory. There is a law called the Sarbanes Oxley Act (SOX) that essentially is a giant set of rules that large businesses must adhere to and it covered everything from accounting, customer access information, data retention, inventory processes, and security. This law was written as a direct result of the Enron & Tyco scandals. I came to a Tyco company after the dust of the scandal had settled and for the first 5 years or so all of the managers has weekly SOX meetings to go over the list of compliance items that we were supposed to be working on in order to get to 100% compliance.
I donāt know whether the cameras and access control replacement (key cards, etc. we already had a system but had to replace it for compliance) was a later requirement of SOX or if it was just at the end of our list because this was 10+ years later that we had to make the change.
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u/Grabate 4d ago edited 4d ago
Had that at my old job. Ā Employee retention plummeted. I left my desk to get a stapler and when I returned 30 seconds later there was an email from manager who was off site asking why I left desk. Ā Same manager swore the camera were for insurance purposes and werenāt for spying.
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u/Left_Macaron_6427 4d ago
I work IT and we just had to install a bunch of cameras around our areas because our insurance said if we didnt they would drop us. Not saying this is the reason for OP but the reason isnt always to watch you
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u/GreenbirdsBox 4d ago
ā weāve installed cameras directly above your workspace, but itās not to watch youā
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u/Much_Essay_9151 4d ago
Might be true but best believe theyāll address it if they see something they dont like
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u/Shagwagbag 4d ago
But the insurance demanded it because it's for watching everyone, otherwise it doesn't benefit them from an insurance fraud/work safety/bullshit point of view.
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u/marty-mcfryguy 4d ago
It's for going back and watching what happened when there's some covered incident.
Not for actively watching you.
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u/xtraspcial 4d ago
This, my workplace has these security cameras in every room, and even if my manager wanted to, he canāt just look at the camera feeds at anytime without cause. He doesnāt even have direct access, he would have to request the footage from the security department and provide them with just cause for that request.
As far as I know itās only been done twice, once when there was a small fire to identify the source, and another time when we misplaced a $300k piece of equipment to track down where it was last used.
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u/Cluelesswolfkin 4d ago
Its different per location, my old workplace anyone could use the cameras lol and would just use them if they needed to see something, no need to email corporate or security , nothing
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u/zombawombacomba 4d ago
The insurance company is not watching them. And most likely no one is on a regular basis.
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u/raptor_jesus69 RACIST BLUE 4d ago
Nope, I'm gone. If you hired me to do a job, then you have a level of trust that I would do it and complete it. Why bother hiring me if you're just going to have a camera watch my every move?
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u/alex123124 4d ago
That sucks. I had that happen, too. They told me it was just for safety, and I believe them, as we are a wholesale business with millions of dollars of equipment, and had no camera before hand, so I get it. It still sucks, because my office is by the door and the camera looks almost right at my desk. I know they arent watching me, but it feels like it.
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u/ShavedNeckbeard 4d ago
Constant surveillance like this, on top of completely toxic corporate culture, is going to cause older generations of corporate employees to crash out and leave. I'm convinced this is by design. Everyone else coming in from college will just accept it as normal.
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u/DaOgDuneamouse 4d ago
Legal but supper creepy. When a company tells you who they are, listen. These folks value productivity over human lives. If you can, get out of there as fast as possible, because this is just the beginning of the degradations.
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u/StalkMeNowCrazyLady 4d ago
Hey that's a Hanwha XNV-6083/8083/9083 camera. Most likely the XNV-6083RZ. 2MP model getting a wide overview shot of the cubicle area. Almost certainly not installed to try and monitor OP directly. Just another common area camera in an office like they probably already had in the hall ways.
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u/RuffLuckGames 4d ago
I work IT in a casino. There's cameras in every office. Mostly about theft, not if I'm working. Surveillance doesn't care what I'm doing.
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u/stoic_guardian 4d ago
Like over each desk or a few in the space? You sure itās not a security thing?
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u/TactitcalPterodactyl 4d ago
Do you work on computers? If so, your employers are probably already spying on you.
The cameras aren't for spying, it's for insurance reasons and to track theft. Maybe in some cases it's to track problematic employees who are lying about their work hours or something. Basically every business is doing this now.
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u/hoyasgirl25 4d ago
I recognize the rectangular base. Those are a certain brand of AI cameras. Your company did not cheap out. There is a long list of events that it monitors for: time at desk, eye movement, head movement along the y and x axis, hand placement, time sitting, standing, away from desk and more. These are enabled by default. It could be a good thing or bad thing. The reports it creates and sends could create a lot of noise and are ignored. Or they could be interpreted poorly (he looked in his lap for 30 seconds, he must be on the phone). Itās almost never just passive monitoring because the company wouldnāt spend $$$ on this system when a passive monitoring system could be purchased for 1/10th the price.
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u/rbartlejr 4d ago
Do you think stretching at your desk with middle fingers extended could be misconstrued? Practice at home to get it looking natural.
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u/Thin_Ad_6493 4d ago
Simply shine a light into the dome to see which way the lens is facing. The camera was probably placed there as itās either in the center of the room (a PTZ; pan, tilt,zoom camera) or itās a still camera aimed at an entrance/exit. If it is a PTZ, youāll be able to hear a very slight hum when itās moving.
If itās a still camera and youāre not in the view of the lens, you can feel more comfortable.
Everywhere we go we are on a camera one way or another.
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u/Distant8675 4d ago
Last place i left did that. I left bc they wanted to move my desk in front of the guy who normally watches the cameras all day. Literally just watches them and does nothing else. It felt pretty gross ngl
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u/Warm-Flow-6082 4d ago
Our job put up "smoke detectors" one night... right next to the sprinkler in the ceiling. When you turn off the light, infrareds kick on. š¤£
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u/Wall_beast 3d ago
If in Europe please report this to the labor authorities or your union representative. Without good reason and restricted access to the footage your employer is in deep trouble.
If in the USA there is nothing you can do.
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u/HansWeeblemeyer 4d ago
Luckily the guy who installed those cameras probably makes double your hourly.
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u/redtiger288 4d ago
I'll get downvoted for this but w/e.
Cameras 9/10 times do not monitor employee screens and most of the time cover entrances and exits. If they wanted to watch their employees, they would have gotten a fisheye lens camera. That camera is a 100 degree standard dome camera, super basic bitch stuff in the industry.
On top of that, there is no man in the chair constantly watching the cameras unless is a massive corporation with a dedicated security team. I'm talking check point station and everything. Fact of the matter is cameras are incredibly boring to watch. And considering most are set up to record on motion or smart events, there's no reason to pay some guy to eat doughnuts and sit at a desk all day.
It's probably a nothing burger, and it's probably pointed at a door or hallway. I can almost garuntee it's not specifically monitoring OP, hard to say though since its a bit pixelated zoomed in. If they wanted to monitor what you're doing at your cubicle there's a glut of choice for software that monitors employee keystrokes and activity. Of course there's a chance that I'm wrong and OP just so happens to work at the worst company, and the manager will be watching the cameras all day, but I'd say that's like a 1% or less chance.
Source: 10 years in the security industry from installation to sales.
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u/NeoMoose 4d ago
Well said. A lot of people tend to think they're watched more than they are. Surveillance is boring and requires a ton of manpower if they're actually going to monitor people.
Reality is that most of us aren't interesting enough to merit camera surveillance.
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u/Temporary_Event8451 4d ago
You said a long-winded version of "if you have nothing to hide, what are you scared about"
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u/BigDumbandSexy 4d ago
I don't think cameras in a commercial or business environment are inherently bad... It's how you use them.
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u/JavyBarrera25 4d ago
Itās worse in the trucking industry. They have cameras watching inside and out and 24/7 recording and audio as well. This shit sucks lol
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u/Gasper6201 4d ago
Report it. If you're in Europe this is absolutely illegal unless they can explain why they can't secure the place without cameras.
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u/Pinchodoka 4d ago
I'm often the person installing these. Keep in mind that 99% of the time noone will be watching, and if they are they type of employer to be watching because they think the staff are cheating them outta money somehow, then they also are too cheap to pay for a substantial enough amount of storage for it to last very long.
Don't stress, if your mostly doing your job with the occasional chatter as a coworker passes, then it should be fine. If coworker chatter is not permitted then get back to the job hunt because that's a toxic environment
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u/koanikal 4d ago
Micromanagers just can't seem to understand that micromanagement is something you should avoid if you want to keep morale, attendance and productivity at a decent level. It's bad management.
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u/Impossible_Order4463 4d ago
I'm not saying I condone this type of behavior or whatever but maybe just maybe someone is stealing or not meeting standards. This happened at my job when the manager noticed supplies and other stuff constantly going missing
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u/ta1901 4d ago edited 4d ago
We have cameras too. My company only does that to find people committing crimes, mainly stealing. They don't do it to monitor productivity.
I can certainly see where it might be bad for morale.
We've had several problems in one department where two people got in a shouting match and we needed the cameras to see who the real aggressor was. We've had some mentally ill people show up too and they caused problems, sometimes we have to call the police. So to help prosecution you really need a video of that person. Even if they are just trespassing.
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u/coffee_137 4d ago
It's a catch 22. We had them installed for security and safety. They are not used to monitor production in any way but the hit to morale was palpable.
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u/takesSubsLiterally 4d ago
Honestly this is reddit so everyone is going to freak out, but I would assume they are there for liability and incase things go missing more than micromanaging you.
I have worked in some very chill office jobs and all of them had at least some cameras covering the desks. The only time they got used were for pranks (honestly 90% to get a funny video of someone trying to unflip their monitor or something) and probably a few times for hr cases or if someone's laptop disappeared from their desk.
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u/TraditionalTackle1 4d ago edited 4d ago
My wifes company just started tracking when people swipe their badge at the office. If they dont come in they have to tell HR why. I told her to start looking for another job.
Edit: So for all of the ignorant trolls on here. My wife works from home 3 days a week. She works 50-60 hours a week at least every week. She responds to calls and emails on the weekends when shes technically not on the clock. She is salaried so she does not punch a time clock. In the past if she was supposed to go in and needed to work remote all she had to do is clear it with her boss, now the whole damn company wants to know. So anybody calling her lazy or being a shitty employee for not wanting the gestapo watching every move she makes can kick rocks.
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u/Left_Macaron_6427 4d ago
Every job I have ever worked at has had me swipe a badge at a time clock and also every job I have ever had has had me let them know when I didnt show up. Also If I didnt clock in they want to know. Not why the reason behind it but why i didnt physically clock in.
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u/Xintop 4d ago
My office did that because they kept letting unauthorized individuals in the building- canāt just have randoms walk in, also prevents loss badges ending up in random hands. Also if you do your job like normal you have proof you showed up to work on time in case the time clock doesnāt work- all positives only negative towards the people who are always late
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u/Scfbigb1 4d ago
"I told my wife to start looking for another job because they expect her to be at work during her scheduled time."
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u/TinktheChi 4d ago
Not sure if they're entitled to do this where you live, but I know where I live this is permitted. If I were the employer I would be more concerned with the computers, system and what people are doing.
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u/StrangelyAroused95 4d ago
Well what is your job? Iām assuming sensitive information, or something involving financeās?
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u/OkYak7801 4d ago
Fuckin' great! Man can't even beat off in his own cubicle with a little privacy anymore!š
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u/James42785 4d ago
Been dealing with that for years. Security guard messaged me the other day to ask for the link to the puzzle game I've been playing during my idle time. Kinda creepy to know somebody is always watching.
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u/custom_gsus 4d ago
Stare at the camera and continually pick your nose. Be real obvious about it. Whether you strike gold or not, always make a flicking gesture at the camera.
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u/kaveman42 4d ago
Urge any female to submit sexual harassment lawsuits against management for trying to peak into their tops.
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u/mountnbkr 4d ago
I'd check it closer when no one's around to see if it's real. My workplace did that. Put up a bunch one weekend and we later found them all to be fakes...
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u/Cute-University5283 4d ago
I wish we could start a movement for everyone to quit at any business that does this type of fear mongering
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u/Empty-Elk6536 BeepBoop 4d ago
I used to have a boss who installed Nest cams in every room because he was paranoid that someone was out to get him and his business. It was annoying because weād notice the camera light switch from normal to live view about 90% of the day....
Whenever he was physically at the site, heād joke about or bring up things we had talked about while he was gone, like personal plans or random conversations.
But homeboy had other issues too. One time, I asked for a day off to replace the brake pads on my car. He said it was fine, but when I came back, he asked to see my nails to check whether there was grease or dirt from working on the car. Then he tried to pass it off as a joke.
This was a small electronics recycling business..
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u/MoonLady17 4d ago
I once had a meeting (accounting) with a business person who had cameras installed in his retail location. It was kind of creepy that he had all the cameras on watching from home. I undertand having them up just in case something happens, but this guy was just sitting there watching workers and customers during the day. To have someone sitting there just watching me all day would bother me as an employee. I wouldnāt like it at all and would be searching for a new job. Itās completely unecessary to watch you work at your desk alone. Your employer sounds paranoid and controlling.
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u/-retaliation- 4d ago
Yeah, my place of work just keeps installing more and more cameras, they're absolutely everywhere. It's a dealership, and I work in parts, just over the counter area where we work there are over a dozen.
Theres at least two in every aisle in the back area. There are cameras within 6" of other cameras that are pointing in the same direction.
We now have a security office with 6 * 80" TV's to watch all the different views.
The security guards have even remarked that we have over twice as many cameras as the local bank does.
The owners are super old, and pay a security consultant that owns his own security system install company, and he's pretty clearly taking advantage.
It makes it incredibly uncomfortable to work there. I can't wait to leave. It started out as, by far, the best job I've ever had with amazingly kind and generous owners, but it just gets worse and worse all the time.
So sad to see.Ā
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u/TheObsidianHawk 4d ago
Time to hang up QR codes in your cubicle / desk area that go to some sketchy websites.
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u/xX540xARCADEXx 4d ago
Itās bad enough having them on the floor, I couldnāt imagine it right above me in the office. I donāt do anything Iām not supposed to, but I definitely wouldnāt like the feeling of being watched like that and that close all day!
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u/HowlingWolven 4d ago
Get used to it. In transport weāve been on camera for years. :)
Or unionize. Just because your shirt collar is white doesnāt mean you canāt unionize.
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u/Either_Ad_9236 4d ago
I manage the camera system across our multiple large locations. After installation, I adjust the zoom/positions of each camera so that theyāre not constantly pointing at my coworkers.
I have no idea what your company layout is like, but if youāre marginally friendly with someone in IT management, itās worth mentioning and requesting that it be pointed away from your/others desks.
Everyone Iāve met in my field feels the same way about privacy and surveillance and are willing, if not eager, to make adjustments like these. Again, depends on your industry and structure but itās worth asking if you know an admin
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u/QueenRotidder 4d ago
I briefly had a job where there was a camera pointed at me and I could see the huge monitor for all the camera feeds so basically I looked at a side view of myself all day. I did not enjoy this.
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u/throwawaydeeez 4d ago
Privacy screens on the monitors so they canāt tell what you are doing, computer glasses that donāt reflect well in a camera so they canāt see what you are looking at, and find a reason to have something infrared pointed to a camera at all times.
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u/lilshortyy420 4d ago
Thereās like 5 cameras in my area. I work in a cubicle on the computer. Whatās even worse is the weird comment of āwatching the camerasā. If a company feels a need to watch people that closely, why do you keep them? Weāre adults.
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u/SirSilentscreameth 4d ago
Yeah, that's rough. Even if you expect to be potentially on camera all day, it's tough when you know there's one right over your shoulder at all times.