US startups and big companies like PwC are making contact tracing apps to track staff in reopened facilities, some incorporating data from Bluetooth wearables
Tools could track movement of office workers to within a few centimetres — Companies including PwC, the global consultancy …
The shift matters because it moves the technology from voluntary citizen apps to employer-deployed systems: PwC and US startups are building tools that track staff movement in reopened facilities to within a few centimetres, some pulling in data from Bluetooth wearables — turning pandemic tracing infrastructure into workplace management tooling.
First-order effects
Employees returning to offices face a new layer of monitoring: their movements between desks and meeting rooms can be logged to within centimetres, with wearable-derived data extending coverage beyond phones.
As OneZero's later reporting found, physically tracing employees risks becoming mainstream even after the pandemic — meaning tools sold as temporary safety measures could harden into permanent workplace-surveillance infrastructure, raising privacy questions first flagged when dozens of tracing apps drew security and effectiveness concerns (NYT, April 2020).
The trend: Contact-tracing technology built for public health is generalizing into always-on workplace monitoring, with employers rather than governments becoming its primary customers.
“While governments and tech companies are working on voluntary tools that send similar alerts, these may not be widely adopted. By contrast, PwC said companies could make its tool mandatory.” https://www.ft.com/...
NEW: Companies including PwC are building surveillance tools for businesses to track staff in reopened workplaces as Covid-19 lockdowns lift But critics warn ‘enterprise contact tracing tools’ could be misused by employers Story w/ @PatrickMcGee_ https://www.ft.com/...
Next growth area for corporate software is going to be contact tracing apps that don't have the same privacy restrictions as Google/Apple are placing on government apps. Businesses can make the apps mandatory & distribute outside the App Store. Govt can't https://www.ft.com/...
The new normal: more surveillance at work, more surveillance not at work. The big (mostly unasked) q is over the ownership and control of the data generated: https://www.ft.com/...
Governments apparently got convinced to work on voluntary contact tracing apps. But private companies will make such stuff mandatory for employees? Interesting turn of events. #GDPR #ePrivacy https://www.ft.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Just to be clear - private sector actors making these apps compulsory to manage their liability, esp. as they intermediate public services, was predictable - is how it always happens. The focus is on granular control of people. Also, let's assume this won't be the only use. https…
Global consultancy group: “US businesses are going to have to [tell employees]: If you're going to come back to the work environment, you need this app on your phone.” https://www.ft.com/...
Race to build tools to trace Covid-19 cases for return to work. Surveillance solutions could help contain spread in workplaces, but raise privacy concerns. Critics note technological limitations and question efficacy of even the business-focused solutions https://www.ft.com/...