Be warned: Customer Service Agents can see what you're typing in real time

The next time you talk to a customer service agent online, be aware that the person on the other side of your conversation can see what you are typing in real time. A reader sent us the following transcript of a conversation he had with a mattress maker after the agent answered a message he had not yet sent.

Something similar has recently happened to HmmDaily & # 39;s Tom Scocca. An agent answered in detail a second after clicking Send.

Googling led Scocca to a live chat service with a feature called "real-time typing" to allow agents to prepare their "answers before the customer submits questions." Another live chat service listing McDonalds, IKEA and Paypal, as a customer, calls the same feature "a taste of the message", stating that this will allow you to "see what the visitor is typing before you". ;to send". Salesforce Live Agent also offers "a taste".

On the positive side, you get quick answers. On the downside, your thought process is observed without knowing it. For the creators, it's a technological magic, a disappointment that will result, they hope, in wonder and satisfaction. But once revealed by an agent who responds too quickly or by another before the question is asked, the thing falls apart and what's left is a bit scary, like a rabbit pulled from a broken neck hat . "Why give [customers] a fake "Send a message" button when secretly transmitting their messages all along? "Scocca asks.

This magic trick happens through the use of JavaScript in your browser and the real-time detection of what is happening on a particular site. It's also the way companies enter the information you entered into web forms before clicking Submit. Businesses could reduce risk by telling people that their keystroke is being seen in real time or eliminating the Send button (but that would definitely confuse people, as if unnecessary buttons on lifts to "close the door" or placebos for pushing at pedestrian crossings disappear during the night.).

For fear that unexpected monitoring is not limited to your digital interactions, be aware that you should also be paranoid during phone conversations. As the New York Times reported over ten years ago, during those calls where you are rebadured to be "registered for quality badurance purposes", your pending conversation is recorded.

So, even if there is music, the instructors can listen to you later, beat you, sing or swear about the agent you are talking to. And if there is no music, the agent can mute you and listen to you.

Therefore, if you do not want to be monitored or send secret messages to agents, mute your phone while you are waiting and copy / paste messages from another document into your chat area. customer service. And in general, be nice to the customer service agents. It's not their fault.