My ad agency now has agents.

Today I came back from an offline interlock to find
out that our IT manager had installed the chillingly-named Agent OS X on my Mac.
This is a piece of auditing software (part of the iInventory LAN Auditor suite)
that collects information about what’s on my Mac and how I use it.

A wide range of hardware and
software information is collected in these areas: BIOS; CPU; Device drivers;
Drives, logical & physical; Environment variables; Hardware brand, model
& serial number; IP/IPX; Keyboard; Logins; Memory; Modems; Monitor; Mouse
& pointing device; NetBIOS; NT Services; Network connections &
information; NIC; Operating system; Partitions; Printers; Software; Sound card
plus Adminstrative and User defined
information.

Plus
specifically for Mac: Appletalk; Font information; USB & Firewire devices

Plus specifically for Linux:
Swaps; additional file information

I
am still grappling with the Big Brotherliness of it all. Especially since this
Mac is supposed to be a company benefit, meaning I negotiated for it to be part
of my compensation package over three years. In effect it’s like part of my
salary. The company doesn’t give me my salary and ask me where it goes, right?
My car’s leasing package is also part of my compensation, but the office doesn’t
monitor where I bring the car. However, because I use this Mac for work, instead
of working on an office Mac (which I could do, come to think of it), I get this
agent installed.

(Cue sound effect of
deep thought.)