It can be if you follow these four simple rules.
If you talked to business owners, managers, and employees last year, most of them would probably tell you that employee monitoring software seems excessive and intrusive. But now that remote work is common in 2026, this industry is booming.
Many managers have realized that their employees can in fact work remotely and still complete their tasks. However, most of these companies do not have experience with remote work. What does a company do to ensure that productivity is high while tracking the attendance of their workers on a daily basis?
While monitoring solutions have proven that they can help companies on many different levels, they still raise ethical concerns. So let’s see what can be considered ethical and unethical within the monitoring space.
And if you have lots of employees, then employee monitoring software just has to be used so that you can check on their activity. Controlio software sits on the laptop or phone. Someone starts a task, or it picks up after login. You get hours by person. You see the sites that took the afternoon and the long idle stretches that do not match the timesheet. A manager approves the week from the numbers. Screenshots exist for the client who asks. Turn them off for everyone else. Staff can pause the agent for personal tasks.
1. Monitoring employees in secret
The number one monitoring practice that is considered unethical, and in most cases even illegal, is monitoring employees without their knowledge or consent. This practice is considered legal when employers are suspecting malpractice and want to catch employees red-handed. However, if companies simply want to keep an eye on their employees without telling them, they could face serious consequences.
To avoid this, always make sure your employees are aware of employee monitoring software. If possible, create a monitoring policy, including consent forms that will explain in detail what you will be monitoring, which data you will be collecting, how you will store it, and who can access it.
One support team of nine people wrote a one-page note. They listed the apps, the hours, and the pause option. They pinned it. New hires read it on day one. Logging stayed high. No one asked for a private meeting about the tool. Controlio tracking software covers the usual cases and lets you leave the heavy settings off. Exports go into payroll tools. Staff can pause the agent. Most teams have the basic view running within a day.
2. Monitoring employees outside of working hours
After-hours monitoring has become a bigger issue in the current remote working environment. It’s not uncommon for employees to use their business laptops for personal matters while they’re on a break or once their shift is over. If you’re using the monitoring software during these hours, you could potentially record sensitive personal data that could legally implicate you.
To avoid the issue, either forbid the usage of company-owned laptops for personal use or allow employees to turn off their trackers when the shift is over or while they’re on a break. This will also make your employees calmer about the monitoring, as they’ll have full control over the software and what it monitors.
A design group of five people tried keeping the tracker on after 6 p.m. Half the team stopped logging by Wednesday. They switched to the pause option. Logging returned. The basic reports still covered the hours. The flexible schedule stayed.
3. Collecting personal data through employee monitoring software
Most employee monitoring software comes equipped with a screenshot feature, while some of the more intrusive ones will even allow you to record screens or keystrokes on your employees’ computers. Even though screenshots serve as proof of work, taking them at a wrong time (when your employees are browsing social media, their bank accounts, etc.) means you would be collecting personal data you don’t want to have.
If you do want to use screenshots, find a software that will allow you to limit screenshots only to work-related apps and websites. The same goes for all other intrusive features. However, the best would be to not use any of them, since they are optional with most software providers.
One agency of 14 people kept screenshots on for everyone on Monday. Half the team stopped logging by Wednesday. They limited screenshots to one client project. Logging returned. The main reports still covered the hours. Controlio App covers those signals without constant screenshots. You turn the heavier layers on only when a client asks. Most teams leave them off.
4. Not using the collected data for business improvement
Ethical use of employee monitoring software isn’t only defined by the ways you collect the data; it’s about how you’re using it as well. If you’re only using the software for the sake of using it or for the sake of spying on your employees, you’re wasting your time.
If you really want to get the best out of it, while keeping your employees on board, you need to have a proper plan. Figure out why you actually want to monitor your employees and what data you need, and set up some goals. For example, if you’re using an employee monitoring software to increase the productivity of your teams, make sure you’re tracking how much daily productive time they have (most software options calculate this automatically). Once you have that information, see what causes the productivity to go down. Is it the fact that too much time is spent in meetings? Are your employees spending more time than necessary on social media? Pinpoint the issues that cause bottlenecks and tackle them by talking to your employees and figuring out the plan to minimize these distractions.
A product team of six people used the basic view for three weeks. The reports showed one person losing roughly 11 hours a week on a task that three others finished in six. They moved two of the tasks. The overload dropped. The flexible schedule stayed. The same reports also showed a second person losing time to context switches. They blocked the chat app during focus hours. The switches dropped. Output improved.
Final word on employee monitoring
Although some might disagree, employee monitoring can be ethical. However, it’s all in your hands. If you really want to make sure you’re monitoring your workers in an ethical way, think about how you would feel if your daily activities were monitored. Additionally, make sure you follow these four simple rules we’ve talked about, and you won’t run into any ethical issues.
Controlio tracking software covers the usual cases for most teams. Write a short note on what you track, install it, and look at the first week of reports. That covers most remote setups.