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If you're starting the New Year on the hunt for a new role, beware: your online habits could be giving you away to your boss. 

HR teams and recruiters are now using technology, such as that offered by Joberate, to track how their employees use social networks.

Employees are given a baseline score, and if the technology spots signs that suggests they are looking for a new job, it flags up the changes to their bosses.

A company tells Joberate which employees it wants to tracks, who are are then given a baseline score, based on their role, how long they've been at the firm, and which sites they regularly use, for example. This so-called social ID then plots a typical behaviour pattern on various sites such as Twitter and LinkedIn (pictured)

Joberate describes itself as technology that 'measures job seeking behaviours of the global workforce.'

The company tells Joberate's system which employees it wants to track.

Selected employees are then awarded a baseline score, based on their role, how long they've been at the firm, and which sites they regularly use, for example.

This so-called social ID then plots a typical behaviour pattern on various sites such as Twitter and LinkedIn.

If the employee follows a new company on Twitter, or connects with a recruiter on LinkedIn, their score increases.

But this is weighted, based on their previous behaviour.

For example, if a person who regularly follows company accounts likes a new business page, their score only increases by one point.

Meanwhile, if a person who rarely follows companies or uses their accounts begins increasing activity, they are given eight points.

Joberate uses what it calls a 'machine learning predictive analytics engine' to establish whether the employee is exhibiting signs of job hunting, before alerting the employee's boss.

It doesn't reveal, categorically, that the employee is looking for a new role; instead it sends a numerical score saying how likely it is they might leave.

If the employee follows a new company on Twitter, or connects with a recruiter on LinkedIn, their score increases. For example, if a person who regularly follows companies likes a business page, their score increases by one. If a person who rarely follows companies increases activity, they are given eight points

All of the data is from public databases, profiles or sites. Joberate can't view content of personal emails, for example, or log in to accounts. Employers can track scores of their employees using a dashboard (pictured)

And, as the technology learns more about a firm's employees, the more accurate these predictions become.

Joberate's chief executive Michael Beygleman told Tom Whipple at The Times that changing a job is 'like buying a car, or getting married…but we actually know very little about how this event appears in social media.'

He added, though, that all of the data the technology uses is from public databases, profiles or sites. It can't view the content of personal emails, for example, or log in to social accounts.