Employers are deploying a wide array of digital tools to track the whereabouts, productivity, and communications of their workers, a trend that surged during the coronavirus pandemic and continues to expand. These technologies collect data on task completion rates, monitor locations, and can even access work-issued smartphone and laptop cameras, raising concerns about employee privacy.
Experts note that while employers have historically monitored staff, advancements in artificial intelligence and data science now enable the creation of extensive data sets, or "dossiers," that can be used to penalize employees or forecast their behavior. "Oftentimes, the workers with the least amount of power in the labor markets tend to be testing grounds for some of the more intrusive forms of data collection," said Wilneida Negrón, director of research and policy at Coworker, a nonprofit organization focused on improving working conditions.
An investigation by Vanderbilt University, Northeastern University, and the University of California at Berkeley found that some common workplace monitoring programs have shared personal worker data, such as names and email addresses, with hundreds of external data brokers and technology companies without clear disclosure.
Pharmacist Lannie Duong described how her employer tracked the duration of her phone calls and patient appointments. Performance evaluations questioned why she took extended time with each patient, despite the complex needs of individuals with chronic conditions. "Everything was counted. How many minutes you’re on the phone. The minutiae of it was ridiculous," Duong said. She felt untrusted and unappreciated, leading her to take medical leave and begin organizing for a union. Her employment was later terminated after her leave.
Negrón noted that while some employers are transparent about their monitoring tools and involve employee boards, others track and rank employees in ways that are not disclosed. "Workers are going to have to come together because the forces of centralizing this kind of tracking and monitoring are moving too fast," she stated.
Hayley Tsukayama, director of state affairs at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital privacy advocacy group, highlighted that workers should anticipate monitoring if using employer-issued devices. She also mentioned that some workers are questioning surveillance tools that track task completion times, citing potential contributions to injuries and concerns about how personal information is collected and utilized.
Arianna Anaya, a college writing instructor, discovered that administrators were reviewing student essays and her comments within the school's learning management system. Students had shared deeply personal information in their work. Anaya's teaching contract was not renewed a few months later, though she could not confirm the exact reason. "It made me quite paranoid. It made me feel less safe in the world," Anaya said.
Some states, including New York, Connecticut, Delaware, and Maine, have laws requiring employers to notify workers about monitoring. Maine's legislation further prohibits visual monitoring in employees' homes or personal vehicles unless it is essential for job duties. The interpretation of "duties of the job" remains a point of clarification for authorities like the Department of Labor.
In states without notification requirements, discovering employer monitoring can be challenging. Tsukayama suggests that if unionization is not an option, employees can approach managers cautiously with a curious tone, asking how the collected information is used internally and how it might be shared externally.
Aiha Nguyen, director of the Labor Futures Initiative at Data & Society, advises employees to inquire about the specific data their organization collects, potentially directing questions to the IT department if managers are unaware. Even common software programs like Microsoft Office and Zoom can have tracking features that may not be activated by default, making it difficult to determine if monitoring is occurring.
Experts recommend that employees avoid using work devices for sensitive personal matters, such as family issues or medical information, to help safeguard their privacy. "I think most people know that. But it can become tedious to switch between phones, or people don’t really think it’s that harmful. ... You don’t want to potentially put yourself at risk,” Nguyen said.