Browsing: surveillance

An OECD employer survey of 6,047 firms across six countries found that 67% of US firms use software to sanction poor performance, against 4% in the four European countries surveyed. American firms also monitor the content and tone of conversations at 55% against 6%, and the OECD attributes the gap to regulatory architecture. Most of…

Surveillance cameras from Flock Safety have become a controversial privacy battleground, as the communities in which they are installed wake up to their sinister potential, and stories roll in of law enforcement professionals abusing their access. One has had its disk contents dumped, and we’ve been treated to some insights courtesy of [Micah Lee]. In…

When remote work expanded rapidly in 2020 and 2021, many employers faced a challenge they had never encountered at scale: how to manage performance without physical visibility. Employee monitoring software quickly emerged as a solution. Vendors promised productivity insights, accountability and better workforce management.

The practice of changing prices based on an individual’s personal data, and not simply market conditions, erodes trust.

The UK is consulting on stronger safeguards for workplace monitoring technology, from keystroke logging and screen capture to AI-driven decisions. As employee surveillance becomes more common, the debate is shifting from productivity gains to privacy, transparency and worker voice

College administrators in the US read an adjunct professor’s comments to students on personal essays. Managers told a pharmacist to spend less time with patients after tracking the number and length of her appointments. Scanners on a warehouse conveyor belt monitored the pace of workers to ensure they inspected hundreds of items per hour.

Concerns over employee surveillance and data privacy have emerged after reports on technology forums and social media claimed that Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is deploying monitoring tools on employee laptops to track work activity and productivity. The reports have sparked discussions around workplace privacy, employee monitoring and the extent to which companies should be able…