I’m working from home during the pandemic. A week ago my workplace
assigned me a new computer, which I didn’t need and hadn’t asked for.
There was nothing wrong with my old computer, but they told me to come
into the office and get a new one. Money is no object at work except for
wages, and everyone is getting new laptops.

So I came in, picked it up, brought it home, set it up, and I’ve been
using the new laptop for a week. Yesterday was my first Webex meeting
since the new computer, and when I logged in to attend the meeting, I
saw myself on my screen. Hey, I know that a fat bearded slob in his
stained underwear.

This was not a Jeffrey Toobin moment; I was seeing the verification
screen before actually entering the meeting, so nobody could see me,
except me. But I didn’t want to see me, and hadn’t expected to see me.
My old computer didn’t have a camera, and nobody had told me that my new
one did.

I’ve told my workplace in the past, albeit perhaps too politely: No
cameras for me, please. I am fine with working remotely, but I’m not
inviting my boss, my co-workers, or anyone else into my home.So I
blew off the virtual meeting, which is no tragedy. Meetings are
boring, and I was supposed to talk for a few minutes, which is never
fun.

While they had their meeting, I googled around and found that Windows 10 (or maybe my
company’s set-up) won’t allow the camera to be uninstalled. It pretends
to uninstall, says it’s been uninstalled, but after rebooting … the
camera is there again. I was able to disable it via the settings,
though, and after rebooting it’s still disabled. And I’ve put two layers
of duct tape over the lens.

Maybe it’s weird of me to so strongly not want a camera pointed at my face 40 hours a week. Well, I know from experience
that my boss likes to check on me via the computer, unannounced. My
work setup is in my bedroom, and only afterwards did I notice that the
direction of the camera would give any intruder a clear view of … things
I’d prefer weren’t clearly viewed.

I
still have a quaint concept of privacy. I think that my employer should
not be handing out laptops for employees to use at home, with cameras
installed and enabled by default, without telling us.

So I sent a memo to my co-workers and boss, explained why I’d skipped
the meeting, and offered to help anyone else disable their cameras (so
far, I’ve helped one woman disable hers). I’m thinking I might send a
similar memo to Human Resources and I.T., or maybe a mass email to the whole company.

Jeez, man, I waited several hours after work before writing this, and
slept on it overnight before posting, but re-reading all this gets me
angry again.Tell me how far out of date I am with my thinking — it’s a
computer, you silly boy, so of course it has a camera. It’s work, ya
dummy, so of course the company has a right to see into your bedroom. My
answer is no.1/6/2021