Employees Beware! Sensors to Track when you Leave Your Desk
Your employer may be watching and listening. Employee privacy has become a controversial issue in the field of Human Resource management as employers have more technologies available to monitor telephones, computer terminals, and voice mail. This privacy issue has been fueled by the increased use of a variety of electronic monitoring systems.
Sensors hidden in the office know when you leave your desk.
You may not know it, but your company could be keeping tabs on you, planting sensors in the lights, under your desk or even in your badge.
Bloomberg reports that companies who use such devices claim the goal is less about allowing employers to snoop on workers and more about efficiency and practicality.
Proponents claim the goal is efficiency: Some sensors generate heat maps that show how people move through an office, to help maximize space; others, such as OccupEye, tap into HVAC systems. The office-design company Gensler has 1,000 Enlighted sensors lining its new space in New York. Embedded in light fixtures, the dime-size devices detect motion, daylight, and energy usage; a back-end system adjusts lighting levels. The sensors also learn employees’ behavior patterns. If workers in a given department start the day at 10 a.m., lights will stay dim until about that hour. So far, Gensler has seen a 25 percent savings in energy costs.
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