IT departments have a deadly new weapon in their war on workers

Robert Colvile
Telegraph
September 2, 2009

[efoods]Watching the repeat of The Office on Sunday night, I suddenly realised what a period piece it has become. The characters remain just as brilliantly observed; the jokes pack the same punch. But there was something strange: no one was really using the internet. No hilarious YouTube videos forwarded by David Brent to his long-suffering minions. No sly Facebook chats between Tim and Dawn. No inappropriate use of Twitter by Keith from Accounts. It wasn’t like a real office at all.

The fact is that while the internet has been a boon to humanity in general, it has been a particular blessing to those elements of it that spend their lives behind a desk. The web offers endless avenues for dithering and timewasting – much to the displeasure of management. A few weeks ago, it was revealed that the number of firms banning Facebook et al has increased by 20 per cent over six months. At least one Government department even resorts to “whitelisting” – allowing access only to websites for which a business case can be made (in other words, yes to BBC News, no to Cats That Look Like Hitler).

Yet now there is a deadly new weapon in the war between workers and IT departments. As Michael Agger points out at Slate, an American company called Cataphora has developed software that “encompasses a large number of advanced techniques for analysing emotive tone in electronic communications… to provide unprecedented insight into behaviour patterns of individuals and organisations”.

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