Ontario Pledges to Become First Province to Protect Workers from Digital Spying by Bosses
Bharti, B. (2022, February 24). Ontario pledges to become first province to protect workers from digital spying by bosses. The Financial Post. https://financialpost.com/fp-work/ontario-pledges-to-become-first-province-to-protect-workers-from-digital-spying-by-bosses
Bianca Bharti writes: "Premier Doug Ford’s government pledged legislation that would force businesses to tell their employees if they monitor them online, putting Ontario in position to become the first province in the country to protect workers’ digital privacy. Labour Minister Monte McNaugton said on Feb. 24 the he will propose amendments to the Employment Standards Act before the end of the month that would give employees a legal right to know if their company monitors their electronic devices, including computers, cellphones and GPS systems. If passed, workplaces with 25 or more employees would be required to have a written policy outlining whether managers monitor employees’ online activity; and if they do, the policy would have to explain how, when, and why the employer collects the information."
"The use of employee monitoring tools is growing, raising privacy concerns, especially among white-collar workers, said Vass Bednar, a political science professor at McMaster University who specializes in privacy and public policy. Some workplaces deploy tools that monitor keystrokes and time spent clicking around on the screen; others go so far as to occasionally turn on computer cameras to keep an eye on an employee and use artificial intelligence to track facial expressions to glean insights about worker mental health, Bednar said."
Additional Information
Levitt, H. (2022, March 1). Howard Levitt: New Ontario law means your employer can still track you — they just have to tell you first. The Financial Post. https://financialpost.com/fp-work/howard-levitt-new-ontario-law-means-your-employer-can-still-track-you-they-just-have-to-tell-you-first
(2022, February 28). Intrusive worker surveillance tech risks “spiralling out of control” without stronger regulation, TUC warns. Trades Union Congress. https://www.tuc.org.uk/news/intrusive-worker-surveillance-tech-risks-spiralling-out-control-without-stronger-regulation
Askenazy, P. (2022). Worker surveillance capital, labour share, and productivity. Oxford Economic Papers 74(1), 85-93. https://doi.org/10.1093/oep/gpab015 UTL Link: https://doi-org.myaccess.library.utoronto.ca/10.1093/oep/gpab015
Ajunwa, I. (2020). The “black box” at work. Big Data & Society. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F2053951720938093
Bernhardt, A., Kresge, L., and Suleiman, R. (2021). Data and Algorithms at Work: The Case for Worker Technology Rights. UC Berkeley Labor Center. https://laborcenter.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Data-and-Algorithms-at-Work.pdf
Photo Source: (2022). Howard Levitt: New Ontario law means your employer can still track you — they just have to tell you first [Photograph]. The Financial Post. https://financialpost.com/fp-work/howard-levitt-new-ontario-law-means-your-employer-can-still-track-you-they-just-have-to-tell-you-first
















