TCS appears to have introduced software that gives the company greater visibility into activity taking place on its work laptops, according to a Money Control report. The development has sparked questions around where the line lies between protecting company data and monitoring employees.
The software, described as a Digital User Experience Monitoring tool, has reportedly been installed on laptops provided to TCS employees. Sources told media that it can show which applications are being used and how much time is spent on them.
The exact purpose and scope of the monitoring, however, remain unclear. Such tools can be used by companies to identify unusual activity, detect possible security risks and prevent confidential information from leaving corporate systems. At the same time, access to detailed information about how employees use their devices can raise concerns about workplace surveillance.
TCS has so far not publicly explained the deployment. The company has also not shared the identity of the software provider, the categories of information being gathered or which teams or officials can view the collected data.
The lack of clarity is particularly important because employee-monitoring systems can have capabilities that go well beyond basic security checks. Whether the TCS tool is limited to application-level information or provides better insights into employee activity has not been established.
The use of employee-monitoring software is not new in the IT and business process management industry. Similar debates have emerged at other major technology companies. Meta, for instance, recently faced criticism after introducing a tool that could log employee keystrokes and mouse activity as part of an initiative to gather data for AI development.
Meta later introduced controls allowing employees to pause data collection for up to 30 minutes and request exemptions. The company also said the system had safeguards to protect sensitive information.
The wider debate over workplace surveillance has also raised legal and privacy concerns. Yale law professor Ifeoma Ajunwa told Reuters that companies have historically used computer logging and screenshots to investigate misconduct or non-work activities, while keystroke monitoring takes employee surveillance further.
"On the US side, federally, there is no limit on worker surveillance," Ajunwa said, although some states require employees to be broadly informed about monitoring.
Rules differ in other parts of the world. York University law professor Valerio De Stefano recently told Reuters that extensive employee monitoring could face big restrictions under European law, including privacy protections under the General Data Protection Regulation.
