My works phone has a tracking device on it Question
Discussion
natben said:
I am about to receive a new mobile phone from work but It seems like it will be able to track us every minute of the day. Is it legal for you firm to be able to do this without having my permission?.
Is to just a phone? At a previous place where I worked operatives were allocated jobs via the phone. It was a kind of phone/email / job sheet. They would order parts from the depot using the gadget, costs for parts would automatically be charged to the job etc etc. it also tracked time worked on each job. Great tool for job costing / invoicing. Although it impacted on people skiving and ordering parts for their own use
It is just a phone but will also allow me access to e-mails on the company platform via lotus notes.
I work out of the office covering a large part of the country and have done for 25years, the idea of someone sitting at a desk at HO knowing where I am every minute of the day does not sit comfortably with me. I would like to know who has access to the info, how secure is the info, what is the info being used for etc.
Is it legal to be tracked without the employees permission, If I sigh up and say yes, track me then I have no complaint but honestly I do not feel that I want whoever is able to access the info knowing where I am all the time. Isn't there any privacy left these days.
What if they give me this phone and then track me without my permission is this legal??
I work out of the office covering a large part of the country and have done for 25years, the idea of someone sitting at a desk at HO knowing where I am every minute of the day does not sit comfortably with me. I would like to know who has access to the info, how secure is the info, what is the info being used for etc.
Is it legal to be tracked without the employees permission, If I sigh up and say yes, track me then I have no complaint but honestly I do not feel that I want whoever is able to access the info knowing where I am all the time. Isn't there any privacy left these days.
What if they give me this phone and then track me without my permission is this legal??
If the company supply the hardware, it's up to them what they do with it I'm afraid. They're perfectly at liberty to track you whilst you're on work time.
A previous company I worked for rolled out iPads with great fanfare and pitched them as a Good Thing. Nice gadget, but we all knew the GPS and 3G connections were for something else entirely... Wasn't an issue to me as I was doing what I was supposed to do. Although we were allowed to use the iPads for personal use as well, I never did. The iPad would go off completely overnight and be turned on when I arrived at my first meeting the following morning. They were welcome to track and monitor whatever I did whilst they were paying me to do it but my own time is just that.
A previous company I worked for rolled out iPads with great fanfare and pitched them as a Good Thing. Nice gadget, but we all knew the GPS and 3G connections were for something else entirely... Wasn't an issue to me as I was doing what I was supposed to do. Although we were allowed to use the iPads for personal use as well, I never did. The iPad would go off completely overnight and be turned on when I arrived at my first meeting the following morning. They were welcome to track and monitor whatever I did whilst they were paying me to do it but my own time is just that.
natben said:
What if they give me this phone and then track me without my permission is this legal??
Your location data would likely be covered under the data protection act.However knowing this and accepting the Phone would also fall under de facto permission/ implied consent.
This might be covered by your current employment contract.
Coxy914 said:
if they are paying you for your time, then why is it such a problem them knowing where their employees are?
When you aren't working, you simply switch your phone off. When you are, switch it on. Simple really.
exactly , unless of course you are skiving off or doing 'foreigners' on works time with works kit and supplies ...When you aren't working, you simply switch your phone off. When you are, switch it on. Simple really.
road and driving risks are also an issue - much like tachos which went from ' the spy in the cab' to a tool to level the playing field over hours and sticking to the speed limits ..- tracking will protect you as much as it might be used against you - no more inapprorpaite distances to travel in limited time ...
santona1937 said:
All cell phones have tracking/ GPS built in. IF you want not to be located you need not only to turn your phone off, but remove the battery as well.
not all phones have GPS , tracking is a network / application function rather than one inherent to the phone even with a phone with GPS there needs to be a way to remotely switch on the GPS to get greater location accuracy than that achievable as a coarse single tower location or a resource intensive and networks unwilling to do multi tower fix.
santona1937 said:
All cell phones have tracking/ GPS built in. IF you want not to be located you need not only to turn your phone off, but remove the battery as well.
Are you sure about the battery bit? I assumed if it was completely off there were no signals at all being sent or received a la "airplane mode".I understood it was legal provided you're aware of it?
I worked (briefly) for a particularly paranoid and ruthless company years ago that spied on it's employees via secret trackers in the vans- led to some odd conversations.
"Hi are you on the way to that job?"
"yeah" (actually I'd stopped for 10 mins to grab some bait, paid by hours on jobs/site though so not skiving)
"are you sure?"
"???"
As the van was hired to me it was mine right? wrong, on a day off:
"oh, someone called us to report that you're apparently outside of the M25."
"erm yeah but WTF?"
"our insurance is only valid for within the M25"
"???"
Wasn't until I learned off another employee about the tracker, probably doubly-illegal as I was hiring the van off them and on the cusp of purchasing it but for A+L deciding they didn't fancy letting me have any of my money when I tried to withdraw it.
I worked (briefly) for a particularly paranoid and ruthless company years ago that spied on it's employees via secret trackers in the vans- led to some odd conversations.
"Hi are you on the way to that job?"
"yeah" (actually I'd stopped for 10 mins to grab some bait, paid by hours on jobs/site though so not skiving)
"are you sure?"
"???"
As the van was hired to me it was mine right? wrong, on a day off:
"oh, someone called us to report that you're apparently outside of the M25."
"erm yeah but WTF?"
"our insurance is only valid for within the M25"
"???"
Wasn't until I learned off another employee about the tracker, probably doubly-illegal as I was hiring the van off them and on the cusp of purchasing it but for A+L deciding they didn't fancy letting me have any of my money when I tried to withdraw it.
hairyben said:
I understood it was legal provided you're aware of it?
I worked (briefly) for a particularly paranoid and ruthless company years ago that spied on it's employees via secret trackers in the vans- led to some odd conversations.
"Hi are you on the way to that job?"
"yeah" (actually I'd stopped for 10 mins to grab some bait, paid by hours on jobs/site though so not skiving)
"are you sure?"
"???"
How did they check that the hours you claimed for WE'RE actually the hours you were on site?I worked (briefly) for a particularly paranoid and ruthless company years ago that spied on it's employees via secret trackers in the vans- led to some odd conversations.
"Hi are you on the way to that job?"
"yeah" (actually I'd stopped for 10 mins to grab some bait, paid by hours on jobs/site though so not skiving)
"are you sure?"
"???"
This is why we introduced it - employee would say he spent X hours at the depot picking up parts, Y hours travelling time, and then Z hours on site. Whereas GPS would say he spent X-30 , Y-30, and Z-30 minutes and clock off early.
Countdown said:
Ah ok. Your earlier post says you were paid by hours on site which confused me. 
How did they encourage fraud!
A: carefully!How did they encourage fraud!
Responsive maintenance. Charged by the half hour. Work it out.
unfortunantly I had a soul, and was pretty skilled at my trade, so it didnt work out.
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