There’s a British science-fiction thriller on Netflix titled “Anon” in which society has opted for full transparency, totally eliminating privacy and anonymity. Walk down the street and you can see augmented-reality (AR) text summaries identifying people by name and occupation. And they can see your information as well. Even freakier, everyone’s life is video-recorded and […]
Last spring I wrote about a Microsoft demo at its Build developer conference that showed how cloud-connected video cameras in the workplace can be used in conjunction with artificial intelligence (AI) to not only monitor activity, but to identify employees as well as any unauthorized personnel at a job site. Now, the demonstration featured a […]
Workplace surveillance has been a controversial subject for as long as there have been workplaces. Advocates of surveillance insist that it is essential for productivity, quality control, and (in some cases) safety. Further, they’ll insist, employees have no inherent right to privacy at work. Opponents of workplace surveillance argue that the practice actually is counter-productive; employees […]
The workplace of the future is often portrayed as a high-tech nirvana in which smart offices, collaboration tools, brainstorming spaces, “hot” desking, bot assistants and other cool stuff combine to make employees more productive, empowered and satisfied. But they might also be under constant camera surveillance, their every move recorded and analyzed so employers can spot slackers, […]