Is it legal to monitor remote workers and take screenshots?

This is not legal advice. It is plain help from a software company, and it covers only the laws named below, which we read on the dates in the sources. A lawyer who knows the law where you and your worker live can tell you how it applies to you.

The short answer

Monitoring is not banned by the laws we read, but it comes with duties. The Philippine law sets transparency principles and a right to be informed. The Act says its notice rule (Section 16(b)) does not apply to collection and processing for obvious purposes, including when necessary or desirable in an employer-employee relationship, but the right to know whether your data is processed (Section 16(a)) and the transparency principle still apply. New York's law requires written notice for the monitoring it covers. We recommend telling staff before tracking starts. Hiding the tracker, or taking more than you need, is where employers get into trouble.

The Philippines: the Data Privacy Act

A screenshot of someone's screen can show personal information, such as names and messages. So the Data Privacy Act of 2012 (Republic Act No. 10173) can apply to it. These are the parts we read.

• Section 11, the principles. Processing personal information is allowed when it follows the Act, including transparency, a legitimate purpose and proportionality. In the Act's words, information is collected for specified and legitimate purposes declared before collection, or as soon as reasonably practicable. It is processed fairly and lawfully, is adequate and not excessive for its purpose, and is kept only as long as necessary for its purpose, or for legal claims, legitimate business purposes or as the law provides (Section 11(e)) source 1.
• Section 12, a lawful reason. Processing is permitted only if at least one listed condition applies. Two of them are that the person gave consent, or that the processing is necessary for the legitimate interests of the one doing it, unless the person's fundamental rights and freedoms outweigh those interests source 1.
• Section 3(b), what consent is. Consent is a freely given, specific, informed indication of will, evidenced by written, electronic or recorded means source 1.
• Section 16, being told. Section 16(b) gives a person the right to be told, before their information enters your system or at the next practical opportunity, things such as what is collected, why, how it is processed, who receives it, how long it is kept and their rights. The Act says this notice rule does not apply in a few cases, including collection and processing for obvious purposes, such as when necessary or desirable in an employer-employee relationship. Section 16(a), the right to be told whether your data is processed, has no such exception, and the Section 11 transparency principle still applies source 1. Telling your team first is still our recommended practice.

Our recommended practice is to say what you collect and why before you start; collect no more than the reason needs; and do not keep it longer than you need. We have not read the rules and guidance that sit under the Act, so a Philippine lawyer should check the details for your case.

New York: a written notice

New York's Civil Rights Law has a section on electronic monitoring of employees (it is the second section numbered 52-c). It applies to employers with a place of business in New York that monitor employees' telephone calls, email or internet use. Such an employer must give each employee who is monitored prior written notice at hiring, saying that telephone, email and internet use may be monitored at any time and by any lawful means, get the employee to acknowledge it in writing or electronically, and post the notice where employees can see it. The state attorney general enforces it, with civil penalties of up to 500 dollars for a first offense, 1,000 for a second and 3,000 for a third or later source 2.

The section names telephone, email and internet use. Whether a screenshot tool falls under it is a question for a New York lawyer.

Other places

Other countries and states have their own rules, and some are stricter. We have not read them for this page, so we do not summarise them. Where you live and where your worker lives can both matter, so ask a lawyer if they are in different places.

What to do in practice

1. Tell them before they start, in writing. Horapod does this at install: the tracker shows what it records on your plan, and the worker must agree before they can clock in.
2. Write down your reason. "Honest hours" is a reason. "Just in case" is not.
3. Track what answers your question. Free shows who is clocked in and their hours. Screenshots start on Starter. They are taken at random times, only while the worker is clocked in, and deleted after 90 days. On Premium you can blur them.
4. Say that screenshots are taken. Workers see their own hours. They do not see their screenshots, so your agreement should name them.
5. Leave private time alone. Nothing is tracked after a worker clocks out.
6. Keep a copy of what you told your team and what they agreed to.

The full list of what Horapod records, plan by plan, is on What we track. Our privacy policy covers how we handle the data. For a practical guide to telling a virtual assistant, see How to track a virtual assistant's hours.

Sources

1. Checked 2026-10-25. Republic Act No. 10173, the Data Privacy Act of 2012, Sections 3(b), 11, 12 and 16, on the Lawphil Project site.
2. Checked 2026-10-25. New York Civil Rights Law, section 52-c (the second section so numbered), electronic monitoring of employees, on the New York State Senate site.

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