The Hindu Business Line : The new Dataveillance era

It is interesting to watch the rift among the Marxist apparatchiks at the politburo on whether workers in IT industry need any help from their trade union wings to earn in addition to their high salaries and perks the right to hold back output, efficiency and promptness. While the West Bengal Chief Minister would like to do some balancing act without prejudicing the flow of investments from abroad, the other camp may be happy to add some more ammunition to their arsenal when they hear reports of IT firms practicing a modern form of slavery, monitoring every moment of their employees to keep them chained to the desk.

To promote efficiency and cut costs firms in the West are not only moving these jobs in the Information Technology Enabled Services sector to low-cost destinations in India and China they are also developing and using technologies to keep a close watch over every employee.These firms are installing an intense 24x7 surveillance called dataveillance on the desk operators at their call centres. It is recently reported that the AA (automobile Association) in the UK, where the call centre staff get a total of 82 minutes of free time in a shift the management knows exactly how much and where the free time was spent.

The computer will flag when an employee is away from the desk. Conversations, calls and mealtimes are all recorded

The data surveillance is not limited to call centre operators. Movers and stackers on the shop floors of super market chains are given mini computers to be worn as arm bands in order to direct them to pick up products faster. There are other employers who provide jackets in which computer chips are embedded which can direct and monitor staff. Now the system of ubiquitous dataveillance, reminding one of the Orwellian nightmares of turning the workers into automatons, is increasingly gaining ground as employers intensify the use of CCTV cameras, satellite tracking of delivery trucks and computer monitors inside call centres and check out counters. Super markets such as the famous Wal-Mart, Sainsbury and Tesco routinely monitor their operators by asking them to swipe a card at the till. They have introduced `Boom Head sets' to be worn by the staff which will directly instruct the depot staff. They have even devised ways of freezing the computer mouses if the operators divert their attention by engaging in idle chat sessions or sending emails.

For those opposed to these draconian measures good news come in the form of a court ruling which pronounced satellite car tracking as invasion of privacy. Although these technologies were never designed to be spies on people but to make life more efficient and safe, it is yet to be seen how the conflict between individual employee's right to privacy and the company's quest for productivity be resolved.

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Oily deals

Managing earnings management

Corruption isn't a natural disaster

Needed, a new prescription

Unsustainable economics of accounting publications

Why retail sector needs FDI

The new Dataveillance era

Marketing vs TQM

Globalisation and labour policy

Rebuilding Brand Bangalore

Checking tax evasion

Wake-up call