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Workers are no strangers to being spied on by the boss. But as technology continues to advance, the ways in which your boss can snoop on your business have both increased and become far more invasive.
Today, your boss has access to powerful artificial intelligence-powered tools such as speech and biometric data monitoring, retina tracking, emotional and gait analysis and facial recognition, keeping tabs on you at all times.
Worse, there is very little accountability for what your boss does with this data, who they share it with, or even who they sell it to. The possibilities are frightening: An employer could use surveillance data for predictive behavior analysis to prevent workers from exercising their constitutional rights or even to determine their immigration status or whether they are pregnant.
That’s about to change.
California Assemblymember Isaac Bryan, D-Los Angeles, has introduced a bill, Assembly Bill 1221, to ban employers from using these highly invasive technologies and to restrict how and when they can share your data with a third party.
Simply put, AB 1221 bans your boss from using technologies such as emotional or gait analysis, which are not only extremely invasive but also unreliable and potentially discriminatory, to spy on you while you work, and it specifically bans employers from using surveillance tools to obtain or infer protected statuses or personal information, such as your health status or the likelihood of unionizing.
The bill also requires your boss to notify you in advance when they are introducing surveillance tools, so you can know exactly when, where and how you are being watched. AB 1221 limits how your data can be shared and makes both your boss and any third-party that has your data legally liable if that data is ever breached.
Finally, the bill requires your boss to provide corroborating evidence to validate any surveillance data before you can be disciplined or fired, ensuring that human oversight over the technology remains in place.
In an era of pervasive digital surveillance, you deserve the right to privacy at work. Contact your state lawmakers and tell them to vote YES on AB 1221! |
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In Solidarity, Lorena Gonzalez |
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