Software for Clients to Monitor Freelancers? – No Way!
August 12, 2008 by Jodee
Filed under Freelance Writing
by Jodee Redmond
Thank you to one of our readers, Bruno Tilgner, for bringing this to my attention. According to an article recently published in the Globe and Mail, some bidding sites, like oDesk, are offering software to clients so that they can monitor a contractor’s online activities remotely.
The goal here is to make sure that the client is not being taken advantage of by someone who would pad their account or spend their online time web surfing instead of doing the work. As I read through the article, I was of two minds: on one hand, I understand clients wanting to get good value for their money and I can see that for some people, the idea that they may be watched while they are working may help them stay focused.
But the more I thought about it, the more disturbing I found this whole idea. I approach my work from the basic premise that most people are decent and unless they give me a reason not to, I will trust them. My clients trust me to do the work that they give to me and I trust that they will pay as agreed. So far, it’s worked out pretty well. I’ve only ever been stiffed once, and it was for a small amount of money.
If I’m being paid for the project, is it anyone’s business how long it takes me to complete it or what web sites I visit through the day? As long as I get the work in on time, that should be all that matters.
I do have some people who pay me on an hourly basis and if anything, I’m more likely to eat some time if I feel that I was overly distracted and the work took longer than I thought than to ever pad my account.
The other concern I have about monitoring software is that I am juggling multiple projects at once, so if you were to spy on my online activities, you would be seeing material that is not related to your project at all. For one of my clients, I am entrusted with some very personal information and I take care to keep it confidential.
I did consider the argument that if I have nothing to hide then it shouldn’t be a problem if someone wants to monitor my online activities. I would counter that by saying that I take great care to conduct myself in an ethical manner because once I lose my clients’ trust, then I won’t have them anymore and my business will suffer. I have to extend my trust to my clients to behave well toward me and I expect them to do the same.
If we don’t have basic trust in place, then we shouldn’t be working together.
Here is the link to the article: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080811.wlwatchers11/BNStory/lifeWork/home
Would you be offended if someone wanted to monitor your work by using spy software? I am very curious to see what you think about this idea.
Unbelievable. Just one more reason to charge by the project, rather than by the hour, I say. What kills me about this is that people agree to it.
Law firm life was like this. Our internet activity was monitored, although we weren’t told about it. I started out as a receptionist and spent a lot of time online during my downtime — we weren’t allowed to read books or newspapers because those activities detracted from a professional image — until one day I was called into HR to talk about my web surfing habits. They had a log of every site I’d visited, each page, everything. They monitored our email the same way. I wasn’t quiet about it, and soon talks began about whether they were violating people’s rights. Eventually the policy became (for new hires) that everyone had to sign a contract that they would only use company equipment for business use, and that anyone hired agreed to be monitored. I never signed such a form, even though they eventually requested it of all of us and said it would be grounds for termination if we didn’t sign. I’m sure they continued to spy on me, and on everyone else, but I certainly wasn’t going to sign anything like that.
So why would I as a freelancer?
Jodee — Yes, I would have a huge problem with this. From a privacy standpoint as well as that of an independent contractor viewpoint.
As an independent contractor, I am NOT someone’s employee. I quote a rate up front within the prescribed terms of getting a job done, and at the end of that time I will produce a finished product. How I get from Point A to Point B should be none of the client’s concern as long as I hold up my end of the agreement.
From a privacy standpoint — as brilliant as internet and software technology is, it’s scary to think of the many ways there are for someone to monitor you. From spyware, to web metrics and now the example cited in this post — we would probably all be shocked at the amount of Big Brother-esque monitoring going on.
I learned about this first hand when I visited a real estate open house and the agent offered to e-mail me listings. Since I like to look at interior design and architecture, I agreed and gave him my e-mail address. During the first few days, I opened the e-mails and read them, but after awhile I lost interest and stopped.
Imagine my surprise two weeks later when I got an e-mail message from the realtor, saying he’d noticed I wasn’t opening the e-mails. While he probably saw it as an effective marketing tool to weed out lookers from actual prospects, I vowed then and there that I would never do business with him, because of the privacy concerns I had an my strong feelings that he should not be monitoring what I chose to open and not open on my e-mail. So I think in that respect, his plan worked against him.
As professionals, it’s imperative we realize that ongoing technology advancements exist, and that we really have no idea how people are using them. By following basic precautions such as always posting professionally and not in anger, as well as using more generic e-mail addresses like g-mail, etc., we can try to insulate ourselves from this encroachment.
This will be a new interesting trend to monitor (like that of pay) – what are some writers willing to put up with, and how many writers will not be willing to do so? Count me in among the latter.
CC
Lordy. What will they think of next. I can understand it for a full time/full salary telecommuting thing (not that I’d like it) but for a freelance gig? No way!
As Jodee says, I tend to jump from project to project to break up the day. Plus, there’s a lot of personal stuff going on in a freelancers day. It’s really none of a client’s business what we do besides his project. I’d never agree to it.
This was another thing that put me off of oDesk. It also doesn’t take into account research time. Just because my desktop shows as idle does not necessarily mean that I am not working on the project.
That’s just crazy. Unless you agree to be working exclusively on a specific project from time A to time B, it doesn’t even make sense. No freelancer does that. I would never agree to use oDesk.
Oh and Captain Caveman, most places track the opening of their email newsletters these days. It’s part of tracking to see whether their advertising campaigns and promotional efforts are working. It’s been the norm for several years now.
Isn’t this one of the reasons most of us left the corporate world to begin with? I would never accept a job from a company that insisted on this.
Oh yea!
Maybe if I’m *really* lucky they’ll learn how to attach that software to a loud buzzer located in my office! Then if the client, after spying on my computer, determines I’m not working hard enough they can press the buzzer and let me know!
Hi Everyone,
Been away for a couple weeks after a rush hospital, medication allergy, kinda thing. I still have to go through a ton of info to catch up on what you guys have been doing, this one just happens to be first almost.
I’ve done a few jobs for ODesk and they’ve honestly been the best jobs I’ve encountered. I get partial payment upfront on set fee jobs and the day I turn in my work the money is put into my account.
The live desk is only for per hour work, which it sounds like most can agree that the client doesn’t want to get ripped off. The program takes a snapshot of your desktop every few minutes so even if it’s research you’re on, that will be seen. You turn it off or on at will and therefore downtimes are yours to take all you want, you’re only getting paid for the time you show you’re on the project. So there’s not unwanted spying, you turn it on to work on the project and off to do something else or take a break, which I’d agree the purchaser should not be paying for. Also, on hourly jobs, since the work is verifyable, ODesk guarantee’s your pay if the purchaser should try and stiff you. Since ODesk sees the work was valid regardless of what the buyer tried to say, then they’ll pay you and go after the purchaser for ODesk to be reimbursed.
They also provide assessment tests for many different areas that are free to take, and should you do badly you don’t have to publicize it. Purchasers are then able to see a bit of your experience right off which benefits you. All in all, I’ve been thrilled with working with them. I get higher paying, quality jobs, and I get paid immed. But that’s just my experience.
=)
This is one of the reasons why I stopped charging by the hour as a coder and shifted exclusively into freelance writing, where I can easily charge by the word or by the project. I did have a client who insisted that I allow him to install spyware on my computer so he could monitor me. Even though I have a tendency to bop from project to project over the course of a day, he demanded I give him access to my desktop. He didn’t really care that I had other clients, some of whom had me under NDAs. That was a client I was happy to fire.
Reading about this truly turns my stomach. It makes me glad I decided against the corporate world and am sticking to my guns. I’m going to school to be a physical therapy assistant and work freelance on the side, mostly for fun and some extra cash for school expenses. I also worked as a receptionist where they didn’t give me enough work so I brought in books to read. They didn’t like that so they gave me online access using my trainer’s information to sign on. One time when I asked for the information she said she would do it that time but she wasn’t supposed to give me the information. So I don’t have enough work, I can’t read, and I can’t go online. I really enjoyed staring out the window for 8 hours a day.
Kim — I can relate to your receptionist job! All those hours of meditation (without a window) eventually inspired me to become a legal assistant, where I soon had more work than I knew what to do with. But I would rather be busy than bored any day. It has been ten years, but I still remember staring at my computer waiting for the clock to turn to 10:15, when someone would come relieve me for a potty break.
I would never want my freelance life to turn into anything like that, and it sounds like you’re on a good path too with your physical therapy schooling.
Joe — I don’t blame you for firing that client!! I’m curious, did he offer an explanation as to why he wanted the spyware installed? If he knew you worked for other people (and assuming he knew you weren’t ripping him off), I just don’t see the reasoning behind this.
D.B. Rose — I have heard good things about odesk in general, but never from anyone who charges an hourly rate. Since you have used this software (it sounds like), would you mind further explaining how it works? I appreciate your explanation thus far, of the snapshots and such. But I am curious how these snapshots would really benefit anyone. I can understand that if all you do is type a document, or type code (etc), that it would record your typing progress. But say the project involves online research, and to research the topic I have to google and visit several sites for this information. Say I spend half an hour reading these sites, as part of my research, whereas another freelancer might have been able to find that info in fewer minutes. Does the client then get to come back and say “You should have been able to do this research in half the time. I’m only paying half your rate,” or is that not the purpose of the software? What about an editor, who reads a document and corrects? How would screenshots help that, other than to show that the document was actually pulled up for an entire hour on a screenshot series? Personally, I would feel uncomfortable installing any software that allowed anyone access to my computer, because I would have a hard time believing that’s all they were using it for. (Not making accusations here, just saying that’s how I feel about it — that it has the potential to be abused.) But I truly would like to understand the other side of this… how it would be helpful.
Hey, it wouldn’t take much to defeat the thing…on an episode of the Simpsons, they did something like that to Homer and her got one of those plastic “birds” that dips down every so often and got it to hit the key board every so often.
Yes, it cause a cartoon nuclear near-meltdown, but that’s besides the point.
I fully agree with Amy regarding project pricing. As I tell clients, it isn’t fair to anyone if I’m working on one article, get interrupted by a pnhone call for a second client, then another phone call for a third client. For me, hourly rates are bad because they would be much higher than for someone with less experience, but I don’t bill for “wasted time,” long-distance phone calls, etc.
I personally don`t see why people would want to charge by the hour, and things like this just make it less attractive! I much prefer to be paid per project . . . it lets me work in bits and pieces throughout the day, which is important since I`m also dealing with a couple of toddlers while working! That means my screen could stay the same for ages while I`m handling a tantrum or getting a snack . . . and it would be tough to monitor the time accurately anyway, even for me.
I use odesk to get freelancing gigs, but I only apply to the fixed rate jobs. I didn’t install that software, and I would not use it. I don’t feel ok working like that, with eyes on me.
Odesk is awful and if you live and work in the US you really cant compete with people who are willing to work for $2 an hour. Thats what I faced when I bid for a job on Odesk and the monitoring software is even worse. I work on long term assignments for several clients located overseas and as long as I give them their stuff when they require they really dont need to know if I work on it at 3pm or 3am!
This is a touchy subject. When it comes to freelancing I agree. We are not anyone’s employee so no we should not be objected to that sort of things to begin with. I frown highly on those type of things anyhow. Where does the limit come on how much is looked at? Like Jodee says, I as well have had clients where I needed to keep the information confidential. In this regards, the spyware would see this information and without the other client knowing it the client’s things they want to be confidential would be for all eyes.
I strongly believe that a client should inform anyone they are doing that. If they are persistent in wanting to “check all” and not trust us, my feelings are I probably wont trust them.
I can understand the employee’s viewpoint, but as a freelancer, there’s a reason I freelance, I like being able to adjust my work around my schedule. Thankfully, I usually charge per article, not per hour.
I do have one client paying me hourly, though, and I find it is very uncomfortable. I work diligently on that client’s articles and in the end, I never get feedback. In his mind, I should be able to turn out four articles an hour, so that’s how he judges if I’m working hard enough. Usually his articles are easy to do, but two weeks ago he came up with a brand new line of articles and left it for me to decide what fits into his new categories. I did two to start hoping he could tell me if they’re okay or not and didn’t hear a word. I emailed him again last week to ask if the new articles I did were what he was looking for and was told he was going on vacation for a few weeks and would be back in touch but that I should keep writing and he’d pay me in the end if they were what he wanted.
Nothing personal, but I’m not putting in the time without knowing if they are acceptable. I can just see him returning and then saying that they aren’t what he wanted so I’ve spent all that time turning in articles that won’t be used.
Would I be offended?
Hell yes!
Cheryl
I’ve got some positive comments about Odesk that are pretty much the opposite to what every one is saying here. The best job I ever got was through Odesk, which is my contract position right now. I’m currently hiring writers through Odesk, so I’ve been on both sides.
In terms of the monitoring aspect, when I did work using
Odesk it didn’t really bother me. I still had my email open and
other such things and the company never commented. It was about the
quality of the work.
I now am on contract with them hiring my own team of writers through
Odesk. I like it because it allows me to see who’s online and
working. That way I can estimate when to expect things. I rarely
check the timelog because for me it’s about quality but it is useful
to know how long it took for someone to do a project because I’m
paying them hourly.
Plus, since it automatically tracks your hours, you can be
guaranteed payment, a welcome respite for me since I got scammed a
couple of times in the last few months.
Odesk definately has it’s problems, but so far, my experience with
it has been fairly good.
Confidentiality and privacy come first above all for both clients and the freelancers regardless.
That software is just absurd and dangerous period.
And some freelancers may work quickly and some may not. That is what makes the world an interesting, diverse world. People are unique.
@ Lindsey: I appreciate what you are saying about your experience with oDesk being a positive one. Couldn’t you use something like Skype or Yahoo Messenger to see who is online and working, though?
I don’t understand why if you and the client have agreed to the deadline, project, and price they would feel the need to ‘monitor’ you. They already AGREED to the terms. That seems like a huge invasion of my privacy and that of my other clients – not to mention an open door for ‘hassles’ from clients who would want to use that information to tell me how long it really takes (*eye roll*) to do things. (’cos according to some a well-researched, documented, written and edited 1200 word article should only take 30 minutes, right? lol)
I’ll pass.
I trust them to follow through and pay me fair wages for a fair day’s work without insisting they install spyware so I can monitor their accounting and payment process – our contract covers us both if either side fails to perform as per agreement. They don’t need to be ‘all up in my business’ (which is frankly – none of their business).
Hey Jodee,
Good question. We could be using Skype or Msn, so that is another possibility. I know if the project wasn’t hourly, then yea, there would be no reason to use it. But because it’s hourly (and there are a certain number of tasks to be done in that timeframe) it makes it a bit easier.
But I definately hear what everyone else is saying. It’s a tricky issue.