I signed a remote-work contract that limited me to working from home, but when renovation noise made it impossible, I used a nearby coworking space. HR called me in, accused me of “wandering,” and revealed they were tracking my IP address—pushing me to say out loud what I was thinking: this wasn’t remote work, it was surveillance.
The next day, I discovered HR had gone even further—secretly subscribing to coworking spaces to spy on employees who worked off-site. They were there to observe, report, and intimidate. The experience left me shaken and questioning how far companies can go before remote work stops being flexible and starts becoming a leash.
