Cfrgtkky

We have a new team mate as a QA (software tester). He recently started to execute the regression suites in our application and reporting bugs. When reporting the bugs in TFS, he used to attach the screenshots in that.

The issue is, he used to take the screenshots with the browser's other tabs too (online music sites, movies in YouTube, and Twitter) and also he kept some other billing and banking sites as bookmarks in the browser, which are also captured in the screenshot. Also during our DRB call he used to present his screen and we used to discussed about the bugs, and that time also I can see the other tabs and the personal bookmarks.

I personally talked with him twice before in a friendly way, recommended him to use the Windows snipping tool to capture/crop the specific area of the application for the bugs, and avoid the other unwanted stuff in the screenshots. I also asked him to hide the bookmarks in the browser or keep them under a bookmark folder. He replied that he used to follow the same approach (kept unwanted stuff in the screenshot) at his previous company and didn't find any harm in it.

Since the TFS can be accessed by our clients, and they are reviewing the bugs most of the time, I don't want the clients to make any fun based on the screenshot or ask any questions about that.

Can I report this case to my leadership team to take action, or should I simply ignore this? Or is there a polished way to let him understand the issue to act?

He replied, he used to follow the same approach (kept unwanted stuff in SS) in his previous company and didn't find any harm in it.

Tackle his response. He is not in his previous company. This is not his previous job. You have, even if not written down (but you should have them), standards that you try to keep.

Explain that it may have security issues or that when he listen to music on autoplay he may be listening to "f**king B*tches, getting money" and it will show. And you are there to be professional.
Is the same reason why we don't write shopping list on our presentations. It's not the needed information no the target care about it.

You already talked two times with this colleague, so I wouldn't go back to him again. He didn't change things after the two first conversations, and if you go talk to him about this a third time, he'll probably just find you annoying and not listen to you.

The other problem is that you're framing this as a personal preference, something he has every right to ignore. It doesn't seem to be something that's bothering your other colleagues, or something that goes against company policy or good practices. So I would go to your team lead / senior member / manager, and share your concern. Not so that "action can be taken", but so that you gain more perspective on this issue and can act accordingly.

I was wondering about something. I noticed that when the new QA takes screenshots for bugs, he doesn't hide his tabs and bookmarks, some of which don't have anything to with our work. Is this something we should be concerned about, since clients review those ?

If they say no, then you drop it. You could eventually go to your coworkers and see what they think about it, and if enough are bothered by it talk about this issue in a group meeting or something, but I wouldn't. This seems a small issue, and it's going to seem weird that you make such a big fuss (several conversations with the QA, a conversation with someone senior, and then conversations with several colleagues) over a small thing.

If they say yes, they should also handle that conversation with the QA.

This could be a security risk or data privacy violation if your colleague does not check what is visible on his screenshots.

Having some email opened in the background (even if you just see the subject in the tab or in the task bar) could expose confidential information. Visible email addresses or names could be a GDPR violation. Visible URLs might be used to hijack web sessions.

Even if he says that he checks the content: the more unnecessary stuff is visible in the screenshots, the more likely it is that some confidential information will be overlooked. Any reasonable person shouldn't argue against that.

I have no affiliation with the product or company, but take a look at Greenshot to meet in the middleground with the tester. It's like Windows Snipping Tool, but it'll override the screenshot key that your tester is used to using with a crosshair that he can drag over the area he wants to screenshot, then save to a proper folder.

With this you arent asking him to learn a new procedure or new set of tools, but use the exact same actions he does now and it'll keep both of you happy.

Again, not affiliated with Greenshot, but I use it every day for similar conversations with customers and software developers and it works wonders.

If you’re his boss. Inform him of the company’s policy. If he refuses, handle it like any other under-performing performance.

If you’re not his boss, and you’ve mentioned company policy to him once, then go about your business doing your job. If his performance is affecting your ability to do your job, talk to your manager.

So can I inform this case to my leadership team to take action, or
should I simply ignore this? Or is there a polished way to let him
understand the issue to act?

I wouldn't suggest asking the team lead to take action yet. Seems like the issue can be resolved as a team. You already gave him a friendly advice, maybe point to him that clients are going to see the screenshots and it's going to look really unprofessional. If he doesn't understand the consequences behind all this, he's not going to want to change, especially if he always did it like this.