In reality office workers have been tracked for decades. It started in a ubiquitous way with the receptionist at the door noting and recording all comings and goings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As technology developed we introduced locked doors and smart cards to open them. We accepted that this was to protect our employer\u2019s security.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
We didn\u2019t join the dots to see that now, it was our comings and goings that were being monitored.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Even more sinister has been tracking our clicks at our desk workstations. How many employees have worried that their private correspondence, opinions, or discontent has been invaded in the name of \u2018professional\u2019 Human Resources practices, cunningly preparing to re-engineer some poor soul.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
George Orwell must have been a time traveller in 1949 when he penned \u201cNineteen Eighty-Four\u201d which now seems such a long time ago. Reality or Conspiracy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Like it or not tracking Apps are here to stay. Tracking is inherent in smart phones – and we all use them for \u2018healthatainment\u2019 with Apps like Fitbit and Strava, navigating foreign territories, locating our children with \u2018find my friends\u2019 and much more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the workplace, responsible use enables better communication in closed user groups, protection for employers with obligations to engage with workers, sharing documents while in the field and better user guidance around health and safety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Maybe the ethical discussion is fading away in favour of practical convenience?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With COVID-19 and the new requirement for health declarations, this is just a new and included feature in tracking technology.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
With the recent release of a Government COVID-19 Tracking App, it raises again, the discussion around tracking employees in the workplace. In reality office workers have been tracked for decades. It started in a ubiquitous way with the receptionist at the door noting and recording all comings and goings. As…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19507,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","_eb_attr":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-8021","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-industry-news"},"yoast_head":"\n
Tracking in the workplace. Is it ethical? - SiteConnect<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"With the recent release of a government COVID-19 tracking App - it raises again, the discussion around tracking employees in the workplace.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/siteconnect.io\/blog\/tracking-in-the-workplace-is-it-ethical\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tracking in the workplace. Is it ethical?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"With the recent release of a government COVID-19 tracking App - it raises again, the discussion around tracking employees in the workplace.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/siteconnect.io\/blog\/tracking-in-the-workplace-is-it-ethical\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"SiteConnect\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SiteSoftSiteConnect\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-05-21T21:47:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-03-11T11:35:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cdn.siteconnect.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/12003214\/SiteConnect_COVID-19_Smartphones_02_v2.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"SiteConnect Staff\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"SiteConnect Staff\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/siteconnect.io\/blog\/tracking-in-the-workplace-is-it-ethical\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/siteconnect.io\/blog\/tracking-in-the-workplace-is-it-ethical\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"SiteConnect Staff\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/siteconnect.io\/#\/schema\/person\/a8fda688615a1a99e05c59c36f7fa03c\"},\"headline\":\"Tracking in the workplace. Is it ethical?\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-05-21T21:47:44+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-03-11T11:35:39+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/siteconnect.io\/blog\/tracking-in-the-workplace-is-it-ethical\/\"},\"wordCount\":277,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/siteconnect.io\/blog\/tracking-in-the-workplace-is-it-ethical\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/cdn.siteconnect.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/12003214\/SiteConnect_COVID-19_Smartphones_02_v2-e1715994441645.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"H&S Industry News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-NZ\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/siteconnect.io\/blog\/tracking-in-the-workplace-is-it-ethical\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/siteconnect.io\/blog\/tracking-in-the-workplace-is-it-ethical\/\",\"name\":\"Tracking in the workplace. Is it ethical? - SiteConnect\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/siteconnect.io\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/siteconnect.io\/blog\/tracking-in-the-workplace-is-it-ethical\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/siteconnect.io\/blog\/tracking-in-the-workplace-is-it-ethical\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/cdn.siteconnect.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/12003214\/SiteConnect_COVID-19_Smartphones_02_v2-e1715994441645.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-05-21T21:47:44+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-03-11T11:35:39+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/siteconnect.io\/#\/schema\/person\/a8fda688615a1a99e05c59c36f7fa03c\"},\"description\":\"With the recent release of a government COVID-19 tracking App - it raises again, the discussion around tracking employees in the workplace.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/siteconnect.io\/blog\/tracking-in-the-workplace-is-it-ethical\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-NZ\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/siteconnect.io\/blog\/tracking-in-the-workplace-is-it-ethical\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-NZ\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/siteconnect.io\/blog\/tracking-in-the-workplace-is-it-ethical\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cdn.siteconnect.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/12003214\/SiteConnect_COVID-19_Smartphones_02_v2-e1715994441645.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/cdn.siteconnect.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/12003214\/SiteConnect_COVID-19_Smartphones_02_v2-e1715994441645.jpg\",\"width\":962,\"height\":652,\"caption\":\"SiteConnect geofence automates visitor management\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/siteconnect.io\/blog\/tracking-in-the-workplace-is-it-ethical\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/siteconnect.io\/nz\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"H&S Industry News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/siteconnect.io\/blog\/category\/industry-news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Tracking in the workplace. Is it ethical?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/siteconnect.io\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/siteconnect.io\/\",\"name\":\"SiteConnect\",\"description\":\"WHS Management System\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/siteconnect.io\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-NZ\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/siteconnect.io\/#\/schema\/person\/a8fda688615a1a99e05c59c36f7fa03c\",\"name\":\"SiteConnect Staff\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-NZ\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b62ccb09484f6be237a84a726511c6d04b404140301dbcf1ca21c21f2d6cb32a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b62ccb09484f6be237a84a726511c6d04b404140301dbcf1ca21c21f2d6cb32a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b62ccb09484f6be237a84a726511c6d04b404140301dbcf1ca21c21f2d6cb32a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"SiteConnect Staff\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/siteconnect.io\/nz\/blog\/author\/supportsitesoft-com\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Tracking in the workplace. Is it ethical? - SiteConnect","description":"With the recent release of a government COVID-19 tracking App - it raises again, the discussion around tracking employees in the workplace.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/siteconnect.io\/blog\/tracking-in-the-workplace-is-it-ethical\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Tracking in the workplace. Is it ethical?","og_description":"With the recent release of a government COVID-19 tracking App - it raises again, the discussion around tracking employees in the workplace.","og_url":"https:\/\/siteconnect.io\/blog\/tracking-in-the-workplace-is-it-ethical\/","og_site_name":"SiteConnect","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SiteSoftSiteConnect","article_published_time":"2020-05-21T21:47:44+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-03-11T11:35:39+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":800,"url":"https:\/\/cdn.siteconnect.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/12003214\/SiteConnect_COVID-19_Smartphones_02_v2.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"SiteConnect Staff","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"SiteConnect Staff","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/siteconnect.io\/blog\/tracking-in-the-workplace-is-it-ethical\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/siteconnect.io\/blog\/tracking-in-the-workplace-is-it-ethical\/"},"author":{"name":"SiteConnect Staff","@id":"https:\/\/siteconnect.io\/#\/schema\/person\/a8fda688615a1a99e05c59c36f7fa03c"},"headline":"Tracking in the workplace. Is it ethical?","datePublished":"2020-05-21T21:47:44+00:00","dateModified":"2024-03-11T11:35:39+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/siteconnect.io\/blog\/tracking-in-the-workplace-is-it-ethical\/"},"wordCount":277,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/siteconnect.io\/blog\/tracking-in-the-workplace-is-it-ethical\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cdn.siteconnect.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/12003214\/SiteConnect_COVID-19_Smartphones_02_v2-e1715994441645.jpg","articleSection":["H&S Industry News"],"inLanguage":"en-NZ"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/siteconnect.io\/blog\/tracking-in-the-workplace-is-it-ethical\/","url":"https:\/\/siteconnect.io\/blog\/tracking-in-the-workplace-is-it-ethical\/","name":"Tracking in the workplace. Is it ethical? - SiteConnect","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/siteconnect.io\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/siteconnect.io\/blog\/tracking-in-the-workplace-is-it-ethical\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/siteconnect.io\/blog\/tracking-in-the-workplace-is-it-ethical\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cdn.siteconnect.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/12003214\/SiteConnect_COVID-19_Smartphones_02_v2-e1715994441645.jpg","datePublished":"2020-05-21T21:47:44+00:00","dateModified":"2024-03-11T11:35:39+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/siteconnect.io\/#\/schema\/person\/a8fda688615a1a99e05c59c36f7fa03c"},"description":"With the recent release of a government COVID-19 tracking App - it raises again, the discussion around tracking employees in the workplace.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/siteconnect.io\/blog\/tracking-in-the-workplace-is-it-ethical\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-NZ","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/siteconnect.io\/blog\/tracking-in-the-workplace-is-it-ethical\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-NZ","@id":"https:\/\/siteconnect.io\/blog\/tracking-in-the-workplace-is-it-ethical\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/cdn.siteconnect.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/12003214\/SiteConnect_COVID-19_Smartphones_02_v2-e1715994441645.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cdn.siteconnect.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/12003214\/SiteConnect_COVID-19_Smartphones_02_v2-e1715994441645.jpg","width":962,"height":652,"caption":"SiteConnect geofence automates visitor management"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/siteconnect.io\/blog\/tracking-in-the-workplace-is-it-ethical\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/siteconnect.io\/nz\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"H&S Industry News","item":"https:\/\/siteconnect.io\/blog\/category\/industry-news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Tracking in the workplace. Is it ethical?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/siteconnect.io\/#website","url":"https:\/\/siteconnect.io\/","name":"SiteConnect","description":"WHS Management System","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/siteconnect.io\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-NZ"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/siteconnect.io\/#\/schema\/person\/a8fda688615a1a99e05c59c36f7fa03c","name":"SiteConnect Staff","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-NZ","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b62ccb09484f6be237a84a726511c6d04b404140301dbcf1ca21c21f2d6cb32a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b62ccb09484f6be237a84a726511c6d04b404140301dbcf1ca21c21f2d6cb32a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b62ccb09484f6be237a84a726511c6d04b404140301dbcf1ca21c21f2d6cb32a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"SiteConnect Staff"},"url":"https:\/\/siteconnect.io\/nz\/blog\/author\/supportsitesoft-com\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/siteconnect.io\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8021","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/siteconnect.io\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/siteconnect.io\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siteconnect.io\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siteconnect.io\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8021"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/siteconnect.io\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8021\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19508,"href":"https:\/\/siteconnect.io\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8021\/revisions\/19508"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siteconnect.io\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19507"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/siteconnect.io\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8021"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siteconnect.io\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8021"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siteconnect.io\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8021"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}