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Editor's note: The boss certainly hopes that his employees will do their best, but people are always lazy, so supervision is inevitable. But in the past this cost was prohibitive. In 1785, the philosopher Bentham proposed the idea of a "panopticon" in order to achieve the monitoring requirements with as little human cost as possible. Foucault later used the panopticon as a metaphor for modern disciplinary society. Now, with the help of various technologies, this "panopticon" has become more invisible, but also more pervasive. Chandra Steele took stock of various technical means used to monitor employees. The original article was published on PCmag with the title: The Quantified Employee: How Companies Use Tech to Track Workers
5-year-old Trevor has been a truck driver for 7 years. His actions depend on own common sense. But one night last November, instead of using his common sense, he responded to a government-mandated device his employer installed on his truck that nearly cost him his life. Trevor was driving through a small town at the speed limit. Then he hit a corner and he knew he should have slowed down earlier, but the electronic recorder (ELD) mounted on the truck was ticking. If he delayed, he would have to find a truck park to spend the night instead of going home to sleep.
Within seconds, he almost became a statistic. His truck flew off the side of the road. The twisted remains of the car's undercarriage were thrown behind the car, and the truck's load of lumber was strewn across the highway like popsicles. It's a miracle that Trevor only suffered a few bruises.
Trevor's truck overturned on the side of the road
He said: "I was five minutes late. I wanted to make it up so I could see my family, but this almost prevented me from seeing my family."
Trevor had already run away outside. For a whole week, all he wanted was to get home and get some sleep before heading out the next morning. For truck drivers, racing against time is nothing new, but every second does. Since 2017, officials have required the use of ELDs to monitor long-distance drivers in the United States, track their location and speed, and thus arrange their driving and work schedule.
Trevor said, "If I liked being micromanaged, I would be in an office a long time ago."
He's right. If you're wondering whether you're qualified for the job, your current boss can already find out. Just like you can monitor how many steps you take in a day and how much time you spend looking at your phone each day, your employer can track your productivity, monitor your daily routine, and review who you spend time with at work. The longest time together.
Many employees will not be surprised that many computer-based activities are captured by keyloggers, but offline tracking (by Fitbits, brainwave monitoring headsets, and even wearables such as implanted microchips device) may be offensive. Furthermore, it creates a sense of turning the human workforce into robots that threaten their own livelihoods.
The reality is that signing a work contract may be just like the terms and conditions you agreed to when using a mobile app: you may not realize what rights you have given up in exchange for these benefits. And the more companies adopt surveillance technology, the fewer options there are for employees who resent the existence of surveillance.
Your AI Director Wants to Talk to You
Although the technology has changed, monitoring employees is nothing new. Monitoring employee performance has been around for a long time, but back then it was carried out by humans and later aided by the structure of the workplace itself. In the 18th century, Jeremy Bentham envisioned the Panopticon, an open circular building designed with observation as a priority. Everyone (including the observers themselves) can be observed in factories, hospitals, and schools.Although
is not realized in the circular prison as Bian Qin, the circular prison in the past 200 years has aroused the anger of the philosopher Michael Foucault. He regards the structure of this building as a symbol of power decentralization, and there is a danger that individuals authorize each other to others. Foucault said that panoramic openness (and therefore, its modern forms have become the technology of monitoring employees) to change the "traditional, ritual, expensive, violent form of power" to "a subtle, calculated, calculated, calculated "Available technology". The heritage of
panoramic open -minded architecture can be found in today's open office and some workplaces (the monitoring there is also very common, very aggressive, but only different forms). The sliding badge replaced the clock. The work before the inspection by the supervisor is now processed by the software. In some companies (for example, Amazon), employees' production efficiency is no longer determined by others, but by artificial intelligence to determine whether employees have reached the indicators, if not, fry the squid.
has continued to use the trend of surveillance in the workplace. Gartner survey a survey of 239 large companies in May last year and found that the use rate of non -traditional monitoring technology (including tracking employees' activities around the office and their biological characteristics) has increased from 30 % in 2015 to 50 in 2018 in 2018 %. Brian Kropp, Vice President of Gartner's Human Resources Executive, said that the number is expected to increase to 80 % by 2020. In most cases,
eliminates the factors in the surveillance of employees. We will also detail later. Does the boss
need to receive your brain waves?
government supervision is a necessity of society. Government supervision can protect citizens from company disadvantages, although some people accuse the manufacture of so -called nanny countries. Instead of whether the workplace is a nanny -type country, it is better to say that it is a nanny leader, where the existence of ensuring the safety regulations of employees is only to protect employees as company assets. Therefore, when monitoring employees, it is difficult to distinguish security measures and privacy.
Chase Lifetech FR smart jacket
seems to be very clear for certain technologies, just like Nokia smart jacket: Chase Lifetech FR coat is designed for emergency personnel. Change The module can be used to monitor the heart rate, body temperature, movement, and location of the wearer. However, some modules (law enforcement recorders) have exceeded the useful use, and can also be used to track the completion of the task and monitor the workflow. The same is true for
fatigue monitoring equipment SmartCap. This is a hat equipped with an EEG monitoring function to detect signs of fatigue. It is essential for alarm for long -distance drivers and other occupations to cause alarm. Smartcap's LifeBand part can detect micro -sleep (a small section of a small section of sleep or half a minute and half a minute. During this period, people do not respond to any sensory perception and are unconsciously). This hat has been used in the New South Wales Mining Committee in Australia and Bam Nuttall, a British construction engineering company.
SMARTCAP fatigue monitor and its affiliated APP
SMARTCAP worry is similar to the related concerns of the American truck driver to ELD. They are worried that this technology will force themselves to act according to the rules of the machine instead of their own experience, and it will allow the boss to treat themselves to themselves. The whereabouts were mastered, knowing whether they had a rest as planned. Because the truck is the driver's home, some truck drivers believe that they have infringed their privacy at the time of get off work. A hat that monitors brain waves will also increase their shoulders.
is in China, Hangzhou Zhongheng Electric, Ningbo Shenyang Logistics, and National Grid employees of Zhejiang Power Company have wore a hat and helmet with sensors to monitor brain waves. On the surface, this can improve the efficiency of workers' work. "South China Morning Post" reported: "The wireless sensor continues to monitor the wearer's brain waves, then uploads the data to the computer, and then uses AI algorithm to detect the low emotions, such as depression, anxiety or anger.The move by State Grid Zhejiang Electric Power Co. has saved the company money, but its accuracy remains in question.
Columbia University In light of recent breakthroughs by neuroscience engineers at Columbia University in converting brain waves into speech, the future of such devices It's frustrating.
It's all about the wrist
People who want non-invasive jobs should probably avoid cleaning, but tracking activity is possible. Services (Nanjing Hexi Jianhuan Environmental Services Co., Ltd.?) equipped workers with GPS wristbands to monitor their commuting time and ensure that they appear where they should be.
But not only that, when workers stop moving for more than 20 minutes, the wristbands The belt would also send a message to the workers: “Come on! Keep up the good work! Later, due to public opposition, the refueling voice prompt was canceled, but the monitoring continued.
In Dublin, the supermarket chain Tesco equipped warehouse workers and forklift operators with Motorola wearable terminals to record the speed of their delivery of goods, and even Even bathroom breaks are monitored
For Amazon’s warehouse workers who may soon be applying more invasive technology. It was an object lesson: The company applied for two patents for ultrasonic wristbands that map out what a modern version of Vitruvian Man might look like integrated into the workplace, detailing features like "activating inductive signal transmitters." The wristband can also use touch to guide workers to designated shelves
Amazon’s patented ultrasonic wristband
Employment Lawyer, PB. Paula Brantner, president of Work Solutions, said: “Amazon’s warehousing employment practices are particularly demanding in terms of employee monitoring and work pace.
Badge of Shame
Most surveillance targets blue-collar jobs, but one of the most intrusive systems hides in the badge that some white-collar workers hang around their necks every day.
Humanyze Badge
in Deloitte and Bank of America , staff must wear Humanyze The badge can see and hear everything they do, analyze the wearer's speech through volume and pitch, note who the person is with, and map their daily walking route. Beacons throughout the office track their efforts. We reached out to both companies for comment. A spokesperson for Bank of America could not confirm that the company is currently working with Humanyze. We have not heard back from Deloitte as of this writing. "We fight for data privacy," it said in its value statement, which said the data collected was aggregated and anonymized, but those employees expressed concern that their bathroom breaks might not be considered private. This question is responded to in the FAQ: "Question: Will we track when employees use the restroom? Answer: No, the Humanyze badge does not track when employees are in the restroom.")
Humanyze CEO and Co-Founder Ben The company's goal, Waber said, is to help organizations design workplaces that are optimized for productivity and engagement but benefit their employees: "We do that by examining communication and collaboration data — pulling out all of it. Content (including workplace sensors, calendars, chat messages, and emails) is then anonymized. The concept for the
Humanyze badge came from the MIT Media Lab, which found that mining employee “metadata” (that is, information extracted from face-to-face interactions, chat logs, email bodies and subject lines) It is more effective to analyze employees' communication than to analyze their raw data.
If we talk about Humanyze. If there's one saving grace for badges, it's that they're easy to remove. But that's not the case with microchips.
The chip inside the shoulder
More than 80 employees at Wisconsin vending machine supplier Three Square Market volunteered. The RFID microchip is implanted in one's hand so that it can be used to clock in at work, sign at the desk and pay for meals.
has great news coverage, including "This company is putting microchips in employees and they love them" and "Why most Three Square Market employees jumped at the chance to wear microchips." Based on its successful public relations, the company began to advance its own plans to develop a GPS version for dementia patients and other medical purposes.
But when you know the true source of this company's business, its reputation and assurances of what it won't do are less convincing. Although the company's website describes itself very well, the reality is that Three Square Market's way of making money is far less sunny.
Three Square Market’s RFID microchips
Three Square Market’s affiliate company TurnKey Corrections has technology operations in multiple states across the U.S., providing services such as video visits (alternatives to in-person visits) to visitors such as inmates’ families, while charging them hefty fees for video Terminal chat fees. Implanting a chip from a company entangled in the prison industry could expose you to surveillance that extends far beyond the panopticon.
The practice of microchipping employees is not limited to the United States. The UK's BioTeq and Sweden's Biohax have also been implanting chips in the financial and engineering fields into their employees. BioTeq claims to be "the UK's leading expert in human technology implants" and supplies both RFID and NFC microchips. Microchip features listed on the company's website include office entrance, contactless payments and a tracking system. Biohax's products are used in the UK, Europe and the United States, and it is the chip supplier behind Three Square Market. Swedes have embraced its products even in their own private lives.
Office Gossip
Because the microchip is embedded under your skin, this monitor is unobtrusive and easy to forget. But others also have this characteristic. Environmental monitors that leverage Apple's Siri and Amazon's Alexa are like an invisible and aggressive co-worker eavesdropping on what you're saying. You may not see them around the office, but they are there.
Siri is now working with Salesforce to monitor employee speech while alerting the latter about meetings and quotas. Now that iOS puts the platform in its pocket, the scope of the workplace and observing what employees are saying may expand everywhere it goes.
Alexa for Business mixes shared devices in common office spaces such as conference rooms, copy rooms, and lobbies with personal devices placed on desks or at employees' homes.
Walmart has applied for a patent for a system that can be used to monitor customers and employees in the store: In the patent application, the company said: "There is a need for a way to capture human voices in shopping places and then identify employees based on these voices. ”
The end of the law
Employees’ acceptance of the Internet of Things may depend on whether surveillance is a necessity for them. Gartner's Kropp said that in 2018, 30% of employees said they felt comfortable with companies "tracking personal data about them," compared with 10% a few years ago. This must be considered in conjunction with the fact that employment contracts often already provide companies with considerable freedom to spy on their employees. Regardless of employee concerns, they may have to get used to it.
PB Work Solutions' Brantner said: "To be honest, the battle is already lost. Employers have a lot of wiggle room and there aren't a lot of restrictions legally. And it seems like employees are getting used to how much they're being monitored...[they're] even Signing up for apps for surveillance, using what a Fitbit or Alexa or a webcam can do,”
Brantner doesn’t see a change in direction for workplace surveillance. "There will definitely be some changes in terms of the political landscape and public support, I just don't see it happening anytime soon."
She also pointed out that although some states in the United States have enacted some regulations to regulate the implantation of microchips in employees. (None of which bans the practice), but there aren’t any federal laws to protect employee privacy."Everyone wants and should have ownership of their data, so in the workplace, it's the employer's responsibility to ensure employees consent to the collection of data and to inform employees what data will or will not be collected,"
Humanyze's Waber said. Waber said he would like to see laws similar to Europe's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) adopted globally, although these laws also do not prevent employees from being monitored, just from being tied directly to individuals.
Everything is about money
The motivation of a company to do anything will almost always come down to the issue of profitability in the end. The same goes for surveillance; employers do it simply to protect assets or increase revenue.
But monitoring may at least have some benefits for employees. Gartner's Kropp said he believes monitoring will move beyond observation to enablement. In addition to being used to push employees to work harder ("Come on!"), monitoring can also function like a Fitbit, Kropp said: "For example, the chair will record data when you sit down, and then your computer will record when you sit down." After sitting for an hour, it reminds you that it’s time to stand up and walk.”
Brantner said Amazon's wristbands could be used to reduce the amount of strenuous labor and time penalties warehouse workers endure, but she has seen no indication that the company is inclined to use them this way. "We don't yet know whether these companies are using these technologies to benefit their own workers or to squeeze greater productivity out of them," Brantner said.
Whatever the benefits of monitoring workers (reducing theft) , more convenient for efficiency evaluation, safety supervision), the cost is sometimes higher than the cost of the technology itself. Monitoring has the potential to be counterproductive, limiting employee productivity and severely inhibiting creativity. Research from Rice University's Jones School of Management shows that as long as supervisors don't keep an eye on employees too closely, the presence of creative employees spreads their creativity in the workplace. Findings from the Tasmanian School of Business and Economics show that the mere presence of electronic monitoring can lead to counterproductive employee resistance.
Employees may feel uneasy and stressed when being monitored, which may have negative consequences on their physical and mental health in the future. Although Kropp points out that "nearly half of employees typically feel reassured when a company is transparent about the information it collects and what information it wants to receive." Surveillance can cause distrust between employees and employers, leading to employee distrust. Retention issues.
No matter how you say it, the idea of surveillance is demoralizing and inhumane. But no matter which industry they are in, workers have to worry that their jobs will be overtaken by robots at any time. So until then, maybe they'll be forced to wear voice-monitoring badges and boots that track their location: becoming half-robots.
Translator: boxi.
