Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has denied reports that it is tracking individual employee activity through a Digital User Experience Monitoring tool on company-issued laptops, calling the allegations "baseless and inaccurate". The company said its tools are used to monitor macro-level network performance for security, availability and an improved digital experience.
The denial came after a Moneycontrol report said TCS had deployed the monitoring tool on employee laptops. Citing sources, the report said the technology could provide visibility into applications accessed on the devices and the amount of time spent using them.
The conflicting claims have raised questions about what Digital User Experience Monitoring tools can track, how such systems are configured and where the distinction lies between monitoring corporate IT infrastructure and monitoring individual employee activity.
Digital monitoring tools are increasingly used by companies to monitor the health and performance of their IT infrastructure. Such systems can help organisations identify security risks, detect unusual activity, troubleshoot technical problems and understand how devices, applications and networks are performing.
However, the extent of information available can depend on how a tool is configured. At a basic level, a company may use such technology to determine whether an application or network is functioning properly.
The Moneycontrol report, however, said sources familiar with the matter had indicated that the reported TCS tool could show which applications employees were accessing and how much time they spent on them.
That creates a distinction between monitoring a corporate device for cybersecurity purposes and monitoring individual work patterns. Detecting unusual activity that could indicate a security threat serves a different purpose from recording how long a particular employee spends using an application.
TCS has maintained that its tools do not track individual employee activity.
In a statement to India Today Tech, TCS said reports alleging employee surveillance were "baseless and inaccurate".
"TCS does not track individual employee activity on laptops and respects their privacy. We use tools to monitor macro-level network performance, to ensure security, availability and enhanced user experience for our employees," the company said.
The company has therefore characterised its use of digital monitoring tools as part of broader network and IT management rather than individual employee surveillance.
Details about the specific system referred to in the Moneycontrol report have not been publicly established.
The available information does not identify the software vendor or provide details of the precise configuration of the tool. It is also unclear what categories of employee information the reported system can collect and which teams or individuals within TCS can access such information.
Those details are significant because monitoring tools can have different capabilities depending on how they are configured.
There is also a difference between recording basic application usage and collecting detailed information about an individual's activity. Knowing that an employee accessed an application is different from being able to see the content viewed or entered into it.