Electronic surveillance

Surveillance used to be a bad thing. Now, we happily let our employers spy on us

Biotracking technology allows bosses to record the number of steps an employee takes in a day, their heart rate, what they eat and drink, how much sleep they get and even their hormone levels. Neurotechnology, such as increasingly cheap EEG scanners, enables overly inquisitive firms to monitor the activity in their employees’ brains. Now, companies are literally getting under their employees’ skin.

Last month, a small Wisconsin-based vending machines company called Three Square Market shot to global prominence when it offered employees the opportunity to implant a small device about the size of a grain of rice under their skin. This RFID-enabled device allowed its proud new owners to do things such as log into their computer, open doors and purchase food in the office cafeteria with a flick of the wrist. Nearly half of the company’s 85 workers had the device implanted when the firm held a “chip party”.