Skillcast CEO Vivek Dodd has warned that many companies implementing overreaching and intrusive employee surveillance will violate the GDPR laws.
Amazon’s recent entanglement with European data protection regulators has spotlighted the company’s surveillance methods. The firm is facing intense scrutiny over the possibility of excessively monitoring its staff, which raises substantial concerns regarding legal compliance and the privacy rights of employees.
In December 2023, Amazon was investigated by France’s CNIL, which culminated in a €32 million fine for the company’s overreaching and intrusive surveillance of employee activities, including the requirement that employees account for every break or interruption.
Dodd said that such practices could constitute a breach of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) due to their invasive nature, undermining the trust between employers and their workforce.
He said, “This inflicts considerable damage on employees, diminishing their sense of autonomy and self-regulation and subjecting them to excessive stress and anxiety. The omnipresent surveillance fosters an environment rife with mistrust, where employees feel perpetually observed, which stifles their creativity and hampers their willingness to take initiative.”
“Organisations must strike a balance between their operational objectives and their duties towards compliance and employee wellbeing. Neglecting this balance can lead to enduring issues with employees and regulatory bodies.”
According to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) guidelines, relentless tracking of employee activities without explicit consent or a valid reason not only risks violating the GDPR’s tenets of lawful, fair, and transparent data processing but also risks contravening the Human Rights Act.
He said: “The overzealous monitoring of staff and the management’s failure to present a valid rationale for such invasive actions, including the violation of their fundamental rights to privacy and personal autonomy, is concerning. Moreover, obliging workers to justify each break or pause further infringes upon their right to rest and leisure, as guaranteed by international labour standards.”
