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Comment by woahAcademia | Hacker News Reader

Wait until you realize your company is taking screenshots of your desktop to make sure you actually are working.

I've never been worried as my long breaks are necessary for Programming. I always get the job done. My biggest concerns are economic as I'm high pay and they are often let go.

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The screenshots thing came to my mind back in 2010 when I worked at Intel and we were never quite sure how they monitored us. I created my own C# application that with calls on user32.dll. It not only move the mouse and perform clicks, but it's also named as a vendor utility (e.g. LenovoUpdates) that can be minimized to the system tray. I use it to open up various programs (email, browser, code, etc.) and I get to define where it clicks and how long in-between each set of clicks. If you were to open it up, you'd have no idea what the hell it is. The buttons are so generically labeled and the saving/loading features are done using F-keys. Still going strong after 10 years :)

That might have worked in 2010, but when it comes to bot detection it's You vs Big Company.

I recently lost the battle of defeating a bot detector.

Perhaps, but I've yet to see evidence of needing any level of sophistication beyond "move the mouse" just to show you're online and in most companies that's even overkill as 15 minute breaks are typically not an issue. If they are, time to look elsewhere.

I created my program because I had a ruthless boss at the time, but I don't think any spying was ever going on. I use it now out of convenience when I take extended breaks and peace of mind from potential jealous co-workers complaining I'm not online when I should be or something stupid along those lines.

Any details?

What applications and what measures did you try? Feel free to share just links.

Is this proven with Teams?

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