Privacy faces risks in a post-pandemic workplace with technology

Washington – People returning to the office after the pandemic will find a number of technical devices to improve safety in the workplace but which may pose a threat to long-term personal and medical privacy.

Temperature monitors, speed monitors, “digital passports”, wellness checks and robotic cleaning and disinfection systems are used in many workplaces trying to reopen.

Tech giants and startups offer solutions that include computer vision detection of vital signs for wearables capable of providing early signals about the start of COVID-19 and apps that monitor health metrics.

Salesforce and IBM have partnered on a “digital health passport” to allow people to share their vaccine and health status on their smartphone.

Clear, a technical start-up company known for airport screening, has created its own health pass which is used by organizations such as the National Hockey League and MGM Tourist Information Centers.

Fitbit, Google’s recently acquired wearable tech maker, has its own “Ready for Work” program, which includes daily monitoring using data from its devices.

Fitbit is equipping some 1,000 NASA employees with wearables as part of a pilot program that requires a daily login using various health meters monitored by the space agency.

Microsoft and insurance giant United HealthCare have installed a ProtectWell app that includes a daily symptom screener, and Amazon has installed a “remote assistant” in its warehouses to help staff maintain safe distances.

And a large consortium of technology companies and health organizations is working on a digital vaccine certificate, which can be used on smartphones to reveal evidence of inoculation for COVID-19.

‘Blurs the lines’

With these systems, employees can face screens even when entering a building lobby, and inspect in elevators, halls and throughout the workplace.

The study “crosses the line between people’s workplace and personal life,” said Darrell West, vice president of the Brookings Institution with the think tank’s Center for Technology Innovation.

“It has long eroded the protection of medical privacy for many employees. ”

A report last year by consumer enterprise group Public Citizen identified at least 50 apps and technologies released through the pandemic “marketed as workplace monitoring tools to combat COVID- 19. ”

The report said some systems go so far as to identify people who don’t spend enough time in front of a sink, indicating inappropriate hand washing.

“The invasion of privacy facing employees is appalling, especially as the effectiveness of these technologies in mitigating COVID-19 emissions has not yet been established,” the report said.

The group said there should be clear rules for collecting and storing data, with better disclosure for staff.

Fine balance

Employers have a delicate balance in trying to ensure workplace safety without compromising privacy, said Forrest Briscoe, a professor of management and organization at Penn State University.

Briscoe said there are legitimate and precedent reasons for seeking vaccine certification. But these sometimes violate medical privacy rules that restrict a company’s access to employee health data.

“You don’t want the employer to have access to that information for work-related decisions,” Briscoe said.

Biscoe said many employers rely on third-party technology vendors to handle the investigation, but it also has those risks.

“Using third-party vendors will keep the data separate,” he said.

“But for some companies, their business model involves collecting data and using it for a specific purpose and that poses a threat to privacy.”

The global health crisis has prompted start-up stages around the world to seek innovative ways to limit the spread of viruses, with some of these results on display at the 2021 CES electronics show.

Taiwan-based FaceHeart showed off camera-enabled software for seamless measurement of vital signs to screen for shortness of breath, high fever, dehydration, elevated heart rate and other early symptoms of COVID-19.

Draganfly, a drone maker, was showcasing camera technology that can be used to provide alerts about social speed, and also detect changes in human vital signs that could be early signs of COVID-19.

A programmed robot from Misty Robotics, also seen at CES, can be modified as a health check monitor and can also be designed to disinfect a surface that is often used as door handles, according to the company.

But there are dangers in over-reliance on potentially inaccurate or inaccurate technologies, such as trying to detect fever with thermal cameras among movers, said Jay Stanley, privacy reviewer and analyst with the American Civil Liberties Union.

“Employers have a legitimate interest in protecting workplaces and keeping employees healthy in the context of the pandemic,” Stanley said.

“But what would worry me is that employers are using the pandemic to collect and store information in a systematic way beyond what is necessary to protect health. ”