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I am a freelance developer. When I work on projects for a client I tend to bill to the half-hour, which has been fine. Additionally, I do my best to track each type of thing "research", "coding", "lunch", "break", etc so the client can see an itemized version of my hourly. This seems to bring them some comfort.

Recently, I've had a few clients approach me but ask that I use screenshotting and/or keylogging on my home computer (which is also my work computer). Naturally, this makes me uncomfortable. The client thinks I am lazy. To me,

1. the risk of exposing another clients work via (2) - software becomes unpatched leaving a giant hole in my system or a screenshot of a chat with another client


2. security implications of installing nanny-software that is effectively a RAT


3. the direct implication the client does not trust me

really bother me.

Bringing up my portfolio of satisfied clients (who do not use tracking) does not seem persuasive. If you do not trust me, why would you take the time to hire me? I am not desperate for work.

I have been in the industry a number of years at this point. I have delivered a lot of software on time and on budget. I know when hours are "deserved" vs "I overshot this, I guess I'll give them some hours for free".

Is this type of requirement common? Should I just suck it up because it's work? It makes me very uncomfortable. It signals to me a "sweat shop" mentality driven by micromanaging metrics rather than getting good software at an agreed upon price. Do people request a video feed of their mechanic fixing their car? Do they request an itemized hourly report of the mechanic they paid a ton of money for? It seems like this problem is unique to software.

Is this type of requirement common?

No it isn't. It's also a security issue and a sign of a problematic client. Unless you're desperate for the work I'd just refuse.

The major advantage of freelancing is that you pick your clients, your times and your conditions (these should always be clearly defined and agreed at the outset). If you allow a client to impinge on these you lose part of your advantage and your future negotiating status is lessened.

the risk of exposing another clients work via (2) - software becomes unpatched leaving a giant hole in my system or a screenshot of a chat with another client

This is why I will not use screen-logging software, and I do not know of a single free-lancer who will allow it on their computer.

You likely signed NDAs with your clients. Installing this software likely breaks the NDA

How to (possibly) salvage this situation - Explain The above reason to them, and suggest other ways to build trust with them. Something like

I can't install software like that because you could inadvertently see what I'm working on for other clients. That's a violation of their trust (and possible NDA), so I can't really budge on that. I have several references XYZ if you're worried about work ethic.

Do not let anybody spy on your property and work!

If you work on the clients premises, using their property and licenses then they have every right to keylog and screencapture.

But that's not the case!

I'm afraid you gave them ideas with your too detailed, itemized timesheets.

Why would you even do that?

You give an estimate and once you draw up a contract you name a more accurate amount of time and price.

Once milestones are reached or the job is finished you invoice and bill your tasks / time.

If it's very different to your estimate you better talked about whatever caused the price hike when it occurred and they better agreed to it.

If they insist, thank them for considering to work with you but respectfully decline out of security concerns.

Let me reiterate:

Do not let anybody spy on your property and work!

This is VERY common.
UpWork requires screenshots for you to have escrow claims. Because of the popularity of UpWork it is safe to say this is a common practice.

The Upwork client installs a program that takes a screenshot every 10 minutes and checks keyboard/mouse activity over each time slot to determine if you really were at the keyboard and approximately how active you were.

Personally I found it unpleasant at first but quickly got used to it. The clients rarely check it. It's mainly just that in the event of a dispute, the escrow mechanisms don't work without the paper trail of activity.

Note: the tracker is optional. If you don't use it then you have little chance of recovering funds as it is required for the escrow dispute resolution process.