Fear Danians bringing gifts, or how some programs can bring a problem to the head of a bona fide partner



As you know, ignorance of laws does not exempt from liability.
But it’s one thing when you try to catch up in the hope that they won’t notice, and then ra-a-a-a-a-a-az - and a well-deserved punishment.
And it’s completely different when you do everything right, honestly pay money, and then it turns out that you are to blame for everything.

When massively purchased links on exchanges to quickly promote a site in a search, it was immediately clear that this was not a completely legal way. It was all the more surprising to hear the indignant exclamations of the victims of “Minusinsk” when their sites from the first page of Yandex fell to the fifth.

But the services showing for each visitor to the site his profile on social networks did not inspire concern. The mechanism for obtaining information was not disclosed, but at the same time, each manufacturer of such a service on its website provided legal information, where it was written that everything was legal.

And then it turned out that a completely fraudulent mechanism was used to determine the profile, the term “social phishing” was born, and all sorts of cars fell on the legal users of the service both from the social networks themselves and from search engines.

But this story told for the seed is far from the worst thing that can happen to a bona fide buyer. You can survive the blocking of the company’s profile on the social network or a drop in the results of the search engine.

The visit of law enforcement officials is much more serious.


Following the rule - write about what you know well, I’ll tell you what “setup” can bring to me the market of employee activity monitoring systems that I know well.

And here’s the story.

Modern personnel monitoring systems have a sufficiently large functionality that allows you to determine whether an employee is busy with business or games / social networks. Here and control over running programs, visited sites, received and sent messages and much more. And also video recording of employee computer screens, keylogger and time tracking.
All this control is probably not very pleasant for many lower-level managers, but it greatly increases the survival of the company in an era of crisis. And most importantly, all these control methods are absolutely legal. The working PC belongs to the employer, the employee’s time is also sold to the employer in exchange for wages.

But then an incomprehensible thing happened ...

Some manufacturers of personnel monitoring systems for some reason included sound recording in their products.
The manager has the opportunity to listen to what employees say at their workplaces.



That is, in fact, computers have turned into devices for covert sound fixation.

And here there is a possibility that such a program can be recognized as special equipment.
That is, technical means designed to secretly receive audio information.

If lawyers speak mostly positively about the quality control of an employee’s work using technical means (just recall the recent decision of the ECHR), then wiretapping is wiretapping.

In order to avoid problems, the employer needs to give all employees a signature to supplement the employment contract, which will say that the office is wiretapping.
As my personal experience shows, most workers are quite calm about the fact that they are beginning to control computer activities. But interference with personal freedoms is perceived sharply negatively.

But the problem also lies in the fact that it is forbidden to resell special technical equipment without a license.
Article 138.1. Illegal circulation of special technical means intended for secretly receiving information

Illegal production, acquisition and (or) sale of special technical means intended for secretly receiving information is punishable by a fine in the amount of up to two hundred thousand rubles or in the amount of the convict's salary or other income for a period of up to eighteen months, or restriction of liberty for up to four years, or forced labor for up to four years with the deprivation of the right to occupy certain should or to engage in certain activities for a period of up to three years or without it, or imprisonment for a period of up to four years with the deprivation of the right to occupy certain positions or engage in certain activities for a period of up to three years or without it.
That is, theoretically, people in uniform can come to the office of any partner or distributor and a very unpleasant story will begin.

The moral of this fable is this.
  1. Before you buy any software product or engage in its distribution, carefully study the legislative practice
  2. If you independently develop software with a fundamentally new functionality - check it for compliance with the law, otherwise you can substitute your customers and partners.
  3. The right employee monitoring systems are a great tool that can help your company survive a crisis, but systems with voice recording functionality can be a problem.

Good luck in business!

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