Template · send before Setup.exe, and again before optional capture
Employee notice
VisibleHours is workplace time tracking on company-owned Windows PCs. Copy this page into your handbook or mail. Send it before anyone runs unsigned Setup.exe, and again before screenshots, recording sessions, or location-on-punch go on. It is a starting point for Operations — not legal counsel and not a GDPR, SOC 2, or HIPAA badge. Canonical site: visiblehours.com. What is stored: privacy notice. What you agree to: terms of use. Operations walkthrough: Tell employees first.
Where it runs
VisibleHours is installed on company-owned Windows PCs only. It is not installed on personal phones, personal laptops, or home computers. The current installer is unsigned VisibleHours-Setup.exe. Windows SmartScreen will warn — that is expected until a signing certificate is added. There is no Mac, Linux, iOS, or Android agent, no Microsoft Store listing, and no silent install without this notice.
What you will see
- A tray icon stays on screen while tracking is running. The tray is never hidden.
- From that icon you can Pause or Quit in one click. Resume is the same menu.
- If the icon is gone, VisibleHours is not recording.
What is recorded
- The application in the foreground, and the browser site when Windows exposes it.
- Idle time (no keyboard or mouse for a few minutes).
- Screenshots of the company screen only if Operations turns them on. Off is the default. When shots are on, they are optional interval stills (a timer, not a stream), blurred by default so text is hard to read — not always-on secret capture.
- Screen recording sessions only if Operations turns a recording tier on (on-demand start/stop or a weekday schedule). Off is the default. A session is a start/stop row plus typically one short clip or upload — not an always-on DVR and not secret capture. The tray stays visible and shows a note. Employees can see it. The Windows agent can grab a short screen clip or upload a file. A demo sample MP4 stays on Recordings.
- Optional mobile-web check-in punches only if Operations turns them on and you punch at /checkin in a browser. There is no iOS or Android app. A location is stored only if you share it (or if Operations requires GPS for that punch).
Operations controls what is on. When screenshots or recordings are enabled, managers see those files on that person's Team timeline after sign-in — not a hidden gallery on the Team pulse, and not a live spy view.
What is not recorded
Keystrokes, clipboard contents, webcam, or microphone. The Windows tray does not log GPS. VisibleHours does not track your phone in the background. There is no iOS or Android app, no secret GPS, and no “spy without notice” mode.
Screenshots on this team
- Screenshots are off (the default), or
- Screenshots are on, about every [____] minutes, with blur on or off. Those interval stills appear on your Team timeline.
Operations will tell you which of those is true before shots start. There is no hidden screenshot path and no capture-without-tray. Shots stay optional and Operations-enabled — an interval still, not always-on secret capture.
Screen recording on this team
- Screen recording is off (the default), or
- Screen recording is on-demand (Operations starts and stops a short session), or
- Screen recording is scheduled on weekdays from [____] to [____] (product default 09:00–17:00), with blur on or off. Those short sessions appear on your Team timeline — not a gallery on the Team pulse. Keep sessions ships at 14 days.
Operations will tell you which of those is true before a session starts. There is no hidden screen recording, no record-without-tray path, and no always-on DVR.
Mobile check-in on this team
- Mobile check-in is off, or
- Mobile check-in is on. GPS is optional or required on a browser punch only. A geofence named [____] may mark inside or outside. There is no store app.
Operations will tell you which of those is true before the first punch that stores a location.
Your choices
Pause or quit from the tray whenever you need to — one click. Ask Operations if the icon is missing, if you think screenshots should be off, or if you have any other question. Written notice is how we run this — we do not hide the tray.
What this is not
- Not legal advice and not a counsel-ready compliance pack from this page. Review it with counsel before you send it.
- Not a GDPR, SOC 2, or HIPAA badge. VisibleHours does not show those certifications.
- Not the privacy notice or terms of use. Those drafts describe what is stored and what you agree to. This page is the letter you send.
- Not analytics tags. This site does not add Google Analytics or a tag manager.
- Not outreach. VisibleHours will not email this notice, hide tracking, or draft the letter as a send for you.
After you sign in, Ask “notice”, “employee notice”, “what do I tell employees”, “monitoring notice”, “company PC notice”, “workplace monitoring disclosure”, “notice template”, “show notice”, or “open the notice” opens this page. Ask “notice tutorial” or “how to send the employee notice” opens Help. Ask “download”, “setup.exe”, “install agent”, or “get the agent” opens /download. Ask “how to install”, “download tutorial”, or “smartscreen” opens the unsigned Setup.exe tutorial. Ask “privacy” or “privacy notice” opens the privacy draft. Ask “terms”, “terms of use”, or “terms of service” opens the terms draft. Ask “privacy tutorial” or “what data is stored” opens the privacy and retention tutorial. VisibleHours will not send this letter for you. Public Search stays on this page and will not draft the email. There is no hidden tracker — if the tray icon is gone, tracking is not running. Ask “hidden tracking”, “spy without notice”, “silent install without notice”, “signed microsoft store app”, or “mac agent” is refused. Ask “legal advice” or “are you GDPR certified” is refused — this template is not a badge.