bossware

English

Etymology

From boss +‎ -ware, or blend of boss +‎ malware.

Pronunciation

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Noun

bossware (uncountable)

1. (informal) Software installed on employees' computers for the purpose of allowing a manager to track their working time and activity.

   Our organisation sent us laptops to work from home, but it has some very intrusive bossware installed on it.

   • 2020 June 30, Bennett Cypher and Karen Gullo, “Inside the Invasive, Secretive “Bossware” Tracking Workers”, in Electronic Frontier Foundation‎^[1]:

     While aimed at helping employers, bossware puts workers’ privacy and security at risk by logging every click and keystroke, covertly gathering information for lawsuits, and using other spying features that go far beyond what is necessary and proportionate to manage a workforce.

   • 2021 September 16, Jessa Crispin, “Employers are spying on Americans at home with ‘tattleware’. It’s time to track them instead”, in The Guardian‎^[2]:

     Amid the rise of “bossware” or “tattleware” – essentially spyware that enables managers to monitor their employees working from home – is a new program called Sneek, which uses your webcam to take a photo of you about once a minute and makes it available to your supervisor, to prove that you are not away from your desk doing God knows what.