Companies are reevaluating their use of facial recognition and fingerprint scanning for tracking employee attendance, following new enforcement actions by regulatory bodies. In February, the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) instructed a Serco subsidiary to cease using biometric data for attendance monitoring in its leisure centres, after discovering unlawful processing of data belonging to over 2,000 employees. The ruling has spurred other businesses to abandon similar technologies, with Virgin Active removing biometric scanners from 32 of its locations. The actions highlight broader concerns about the use of facial recognition and surveillance tools by employers to monitor their staff.
- In January, Amazon France Logistique was fined €32mby the French Data Protection Authority (CNIL) for implementing an overly intrusive system to monitor employee activity and performance.
- The Data Protection Commission in Ireland issued guidance for employers on workplace data protection last April, emphasising that while organisations may monitor staff’s internet, email and telephone usage, handling employee information is subject to strict data protection laws.
- The AI Act, which recently received approval from the European Parliament, prohibits controlled use of real-time biometric ID in public spaces.