It’s Always A Delight To See The Comeuppance Of The Smug
When our company first started to issue laptops fitted with cameras, some of my older, more technophobic coworkers got angry, some worried, and some even rebellious. Several messages came from the company IT department instructing workers to stop taping, painting, drawing, or in any way interfering with the cameras’ lenses. There was no risk or no security concern if things were used properly and the software was kept up to date. The company was not using the cameras to spy on you; this was just the standard available equipment.
This didn’t stop everyone; some of the worst offenders had to be threatened with losing their jobs after damaging laptops intentionally
After a while, it quietened down and everyone got used to it. A few people kept sticky notes over their cameras, which was allowed as long as there wasn’t any damage. I had a small cardboard cover that sat on mine. A coworker immediately picked up on this.
Coworker: *Sarcastically* “Oh, don’t let the scary camera see you.”
Me: “What?”
Coworker: “Your camera — someone could hack in and see you.”
Me: “Oh, no, it’s not because of that. It’s because—”
Coworker: *Interrupting and now louder* “All of those scary Internet people would love to catch you picking your nose.”
Me: “Listen, I am fully aware that we have Internet security. I do keep mine covered because [Meeting Software] opens your video and—”
He didn’t let me finish again!
Coworker: “Oh, yeah, sure, don’t want to catch you cranking it. Seriously, what is it with people who don’t understand basic IT? Your secrets are safe. Don’t worry, little one.”
Man, he pissed me off, patronising and sarcastic. I know how it looked, but I had good reason.
It was a reason he learned a few weeks later. He logged into a large meeting late with a big customer. Everyone by that point had turned off their camera — apart from him. About half an hour into the meeting, a senior director called him as clearly he was just on his phone the whole time, criticising [Coworker] and his boss for not “instilling the right respect and work ethic”.
[Coworker] scrambled to shut off his camera, but it was too late. His boss followed suit, and off camera, he marched [Coworker] off to an office to remind him of how technology works and of expectations on him.