Union warns of rise in work snooping
trade union leaders have warned companies that increased snooping in the workplace will alienate staff and could be legally problematic under GDPR.
According to research from the Trade Union Congress (TUC), over half of respondents to a survey of 2,100 workers said they were being monitored at work, while new technologies monitoring individuals’ web and app usage was a worrying trend.
“One in four thought location tracking was being used in the workplace, for example, and overall I think the findings were surprisingly high,” Kate Bell, the TUC’s head of economics and social affairs, told PC Pro.
“Some of the stuff we saw in qualitative research, such as focus groups, were things like having CCTV on in break rooms, but we were also talking to call centre staff that were being asked to monitor their employees’ social media feeds,” Bell said. ”One respondent in particular wasn’t happy and said it was not relevant to her staff’s work.”
As well as creating an ambience of mistrust in the workplace, the TUC said the research showed that many companies were not sufficiently open about what was actually being collected. “Often people felt that they hadn’t been informed or consulted,” said Bell.
“It’s crossing the line between what is a legitimate work interest – where you can justify why it’s legitimate – and where you’re straying into snooping. The landscape is becoming increasingly blurred and technologies such as keystroke loggers make it much easier for employers to stray into dodgy territories,” Bell continued.
With the General Data Protection Regulation in effect, the TUC believes employees should be far clearer with staff exactly what is being collected or face potential fines.
“Employers need to know that they can only collect and keep information for limited purposes,” said Bell.