Employee Consent
Work Invigilator verifies active work through screenshots, audio monitoring, and activity tracking. This page explains what is captured and how employees stay in control.
Purpose
Work Invigilator is a comprehensive employee monitoring platform designed to verify active work through automated screenshots, real-time audio presence detection, and AI-powered productivity scoring. All monitoring is performed with explicit employee consent and full transparency through visible indicators and employee controls.
Is Work Invigilator consent-based monitoring?
Yes. Work Invigilator has no stealth or hidden mode. An employee must accept a consent prompt before any capture begins, a system tray indicator shows whenever monitoring is running, the employee can pause or stop it from the desktop app, and capture is confined to the work hours the organisation configures. Every administrator action against monitoring data is written to an append-only audit log.
That is a deliberate product decision rather than a setting. Covert monitoring is the default in much of this category, and it is the reason monitoring rollouts meet resistance from the people being monitored.
How to evaluate any monitoring tool on consent
These are the questions worth asking every vendor on a shortlist, including this one. Our answers are below.
| Question | Work Invigilator |
|---|---|
| Can it run without the employee knowing? | No. There is no covert mode. |
| Is consent required before capture starts? | Yes, on first login to the desktop app. |
| Is there a visible indicator while running? | Yes, a system tray indicator. |
| Can the employee pause or stop it? | Yes, from the desktop app at any time. |
| Is capture limited to working hours? | Yes, per the organisation's configured policy. |
| Is administrator access to the data audited? | Yes, in an append-only audit log. |
| Can employees see their own data? | Partly. Hours, breaks and work history, yes. Employees cannot browse their own screenshots yet. |
Notice and consent obligations
India's DPDP Act and the GDPR both expect employees to be told what is collected and why, before it is collected. Work Invigilator provides the mechanisms that support this: a recorded consent step, a visible indicator, work-hours limits, and an audit trail of who accessed what.
Those are mechanisms, not compliance. You still need your own monitoring policy, your own lawful basis, and your own advice. No software can supply those, and any vendor claiming their product makes you compliant is overselling.
Where this product falls short
- Employees can see their hours, breaks and history, but not their own screenshot history. The data is theirs and they should be able to review it. This is a gap.
- The desktop agent runs on Windows. macOS and Linux are planned.
- Consent is captured in the application. It does not replace a written monitoring policy shared with staff before rollout.
What is captured
Screenshots at configurable intervals (30 seconds to 60 minutes) during active monitoring
Audio presence detection and AI transcription (Google Gemini) with multi-language support
Application usage and window activity across all applications
Metadata (timestamps, duration, device info, productivity scores)
Mouse and keyboard activity for idle detection
What is not captured
Data while monitoring is paused or stopped by employee
Activity outside configured work hours (if policy is set)
Personal activities during breaks (if manually recorded)
Sensitive content (automatically blurred in screenshots)
Monitoring Features
Screenshots
Automated captures at intervals configured by your organization (0.5-60 minutes). Sensitive content is automatically blurred.
Audio Monitoring
Real-time presence detection with AI transcription. Multi-language support and silence detection alerts.
Activity Tracking
System-level monitoring of applications, windows, and productivity scores based on 100+ app classifications.
Employee Controls
Visible system tray indicator showing monitoring status (green = active, yellow = paused)
Start / Pause / Stop monitoring at any time via desktop app controls
Monitoring limited to organization's configured work hours policy
Manual break recording with automatic pause
All administrator access to your data is logged and audited
Desktop App Interface
How consent works
Employees must provide explicit consent before monitoring begins. The desktop application displays a consent prompt on first login that explains what data is collected and how employee controls work.
Consent Text Sample:
"By using the Work Invigilator desktop application, I consent to screenshot monitoring, audio presence detection, and activity tracking during active work sessions as defined by my organization's monitoring policy. I understand that I can pause or stop monitoring at any time using the desktop app controls, and that all administrator access to my monitoring data is restricted and logged for audit purposes."
For Organizations
Employee Consent Form (PDF)
Downloadable form for HR records including employee name, role, date, and signature fields. Meets GDPR and compliance requirements for employee monitoring consent documentation.
Revoking consent
Employees can revoke consent and stop monitoring through multiple methods:
- Close or uninstall the Work Invigilator desktop application
- Click "Stop Session" in the desktop app to end monitoring permanently
- Contact their organization administrator to disable monitoring
- Submit a data deletion request to remove all stored monitoring data
Regional Note
Employee monitoring laws and regulations vary by country, state, and jurisdiction. Organizations using Work Invigilator are responsible for obtaining valid consent, providing proper notification, and complying with all applicable local, regional, and national regulations including GDPR, CCPA, and other data protection laws.