An American found out the hard way about the methods of the company she worked for from her home in the US. She didn’t know, but the company turned on her laptop’s camera, took photos, and recorded video. She only discovered the action when she was caught preparing a snack in the kitchen during working hours. She was reprimanded and, after making the case public, fired.
In videos posted to TikTok with more than half a million views, Michae Jay revealed that the company she worked for spied on her webcam all the time. She also found that if she moved away from the keyboard for a few minutes, the company would still block her computer’s access to the work platform.
In videos posted to her account, the woman mentioned that she worked for a company that fights for tech company Klarna. The worker shows the computer screen frozen with an image captured by her own webcam, where she is seen away from the computer desk in the kitchen.
“Not at the table. action taken. Please get your manager’s approval to try again,” reads the message captured on the screen. “These people blocked my computer. They blocked my computer because I was making a snack in the kitchen. They just want us to work [enquanto estamos] at home”, complained Michae.
@michaejay22 #wfh #PrimeDayDreamDeals ? Original sound MichaeJay
In a second video, she mentions that the company wouldn’t allow her to turn off her webcam, which she does [a empresa] used to “monitor her and take pictures of her throughout the day”. She also claimed that if she was seen getting up from her seat, using her smartphone, or if a person simply walked into the room, her computer would be locked.
@michaejay22 replies to @divina0722 ? Original sound MichaeJay
The woman revealed to the Daily Dot portal that she was fired from her job after posting the videos on her TikTok account. She initially said she was fired by HR via email, but said she was later called to an online meeting. On July 15, Michae confirmed that she had been fired.
In subsequent videos, the young woman criticized other aspects of the company she worked for. He claims she wasn’t told when she was hired, that her salary depended on the number of hours she worked per week, and that managers often tried to argue that employees often worked fewer hours than they said they did.
She also complained about the allegedly unprofessional language of the managers and accuses the company of a high turnover rate for the reasons mentioned.
@michaejay22 replies to @sugaladyy ? Original sound MichaeJay
After this series of videos became popular, hundreds of users left comments to express their dislike of their companies, employee surveillance and toxic remote working environments, which caused much controversy.
“That level of micromanagement will keep them high,” commented one user. “Girl! It’s time to go,” said another. And a third even hinted: “You should always cover your camera.”
When asked by a follower if she manipulated personal information of the company’s customers to justify excessive surveillance of employees, she replied that she does not handle sensitive data such as social security numbers and other information that requires a legitimate level of secrecy.