According to The Times, a patent application has been filed by Microsoft for a computer software that can monitor the employees' performance and state, by means of wireless sensors linking workers to their computers.
The system, considered by Microsoft a "unique monitoring system", is
capable of measuring employees' movements, heart rate, blood pressure,
brain signals, body temperature or face expression and can even
"automatically detect frustration or stress in the user" and "offer and
provide assistance accordingly". This can lead to the creation of
psychological profiles and the Unions fear that employees could be
dismissed on the basis of such profiles.
The Information Commissioner, privacy advocates and civil liberties
groups highly criticise the application. "This system involves
intrusion into every single aspect of the lives of the employees. It
raises very serious privacy issues" stated Hugh Tomlinson, an expert on
data protection law at Matrix Chambers while The Information
Commissioner's Office said: "Imposing this level of intrusion on
employees could only be justified in exceptional circumstances."
According to legal experts from law firm Eversheds, Microsoft will
face major legal problems if they want to implement the system all
around the world. Jonathan Armstrong, a partner in the company, told
vnunet.com that the situation was especially complicated due to the
international nature of Microsoft business.
The application was confirmed by the US Patent Office and could be granted within a year.
Another patent application of the company is a method to collect
information about the users of cell phones, Internet, card-credits,
geolocation systems in order to target advertising. Microsoft like
other large companies such as Google who earn from clicks on ads, have
thought of gathering personal information on Internet users in order to
provide more tailored advertisements that may better catch the users'
eye.
According to the Microsoft application, "an advertising component
employs the user profile in connection with the delivery of an
advertisement." Credit card information may be used to create a
"payment history," and data relayed by cell-phone towers can also be
used to locate users, and to "tailor search and advertising during
online experiences so as to better interpret queries to search engines,
to better target advertisements."
Brendon Lynch, Microsoft director of privacy strategy, stated that
the application "will first be reviewed against our privacy standards
to ensure that privacy is protected."
Source: EDRI-gram - Number 6.2, 30 January 2008.
(3096 hits/посети) |
