Timely isn’t an employee monitoring software. Here’s why we will never support employee screenshots, keystroke monitoring or any other invasive surveillance tactics.
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Our privacy promise
Unlike some time tracking tools, Timely has a strict anti-surveillance policy. We don’t support employee screenshots, keystroke and mouse monitoring, email parsing, app and website activity surveillance, remote webcam access or any other dystopian spy tactics—and we never will. If you’re looking for employee monitoring software, Timely simply isn’t the tool for you.
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As a remote business, we know how difficult it is to unify a distributed workforce and support people you never see in person—ensuring work stays visible, business hours are accurately recorded, and everyone maintains a healthy workload.
But we also know that trust is central to every team. It’s why we’ve built a time tracking tool that helps keep teams connected without undermining their privacy and dignity. Timely places the power and benefits of time tracking directly into the hands of employees, giving people access to personal insights to help them better manage their time, create healthier schedules and improve their work experience—and all without a creepy screenshot in sight.
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Timely offers privacy by design
Every individual has the option to download our magical Memory app to their computer, which will automatically capture the time they spend in different apps and websites. All that data is recorded to a private timeline inside Timely, which they can use to log their timesheets. But crucially, only they can ever access that data. Here’s how we’ve made Timely creep-proof:
No boss or colleague can see your data—your activity timeline is 100% private to you.
Only you can share your data — You can log tracked activities to your timesheet but nothing goes public without your active involvement.
You own your data—download or delete it at any time.
Timely will never support spyware tactics—we don’t want to work with creepy businesses.
ADD SPEECH BUBBLE:Compass employees adore that they can trust Memory to track all their computer activity without automatically sharing it with the company. Everyone stays in control of their data.
While employers in Europe are required to tell employees if they are being monitored, in the US there is no such requirement. In fact, only three states have passed bills allowing employees to deny their employers access to their personal Facebook pages. As such, many employee monitoring tools are purposely designed to be incognito, often hidden from“Running Processes” so employees don’t know they’re being watched. We think this is a gross infringement of employee privacy and will never support such functionality in Timely.
It destroys culture
Trust lies at the heart of the psychological and social contract between managers and their people that holds organizations together. Since employee monitoring erodes trust, it eats away at the very foundations of company culture. We believe respect for personal boundaries and professional dignity is elementary. Companies should lead with empathy, foster psychological safety, learn how to better support employee wellbeing and—above everything—continually work to earn and honor the trust of their people.
It doesn’t empower end-users
In fact, it actively harms them—sparking anxiety and stress, crushing creativity and lowering job satisfaction. Time tracking tools that support employee monitoring carry an inbuilt prejudice against employees. They operate on a basis of suspicion, presuming that companies need to protect themselves against their own people. Within this context, time tracking can quickly become a means to police a mass of end-users instead empower them. We prefer the latter.
Our privacy promise
Timely offers privacy by design
Why we don’t offer employee surveillance