Is there a legal "out" that can be used to refuse gps tracking at work?

Autonomous

Mods..i'm only looking to be pointed in right area to look.

I know there is a right to "some" privacy at work..(a grey area)..i know :-/
But is there any legal or know cases where ways to refuse to use a work supplied phone/pda with gps have worked.

Valentine1

The Data Protection Commissioner has given an opinion on this, take a look at their website.

Manach

Offhand no - in that during work hours there is reasonable expectation they can monitor their employees during the course of the day.
However, outside that then it moves into more ambiguous grounds as the Data Protection is supposed to protect the processing of personal data. From a European ruling a few years back, geo-location data is not only personal but deemed sensitive as well. Thus unless it is part of shift/on-call work, then should be able to leave the phone at work.

Victor

There was a similar case with GPS tracking of employer vehicles. It was considered not unreasonable that an employer could track the vehicles, seeing as they are valuable and could be lost / stolen and there are other factors to consider, e.g. employee driving habits. With tracking of employee vehicles, used in the course of work, a privacy button is appropriate.

Tracking the phone to discourage theft might not be unreasonable. A consequent tracking of the employee on their time off might be unreasonable.

Leave the phone at work - in an approved secure location.

And of course, don't make private calls on the employer's phone.

marieholmfan

Victor you are incorrect employees must have the option to turn off GPS if they are allowed to drive the company vehicle for personal use.
OP your employer has to tell you what information they are collecting and cannot collect information other than this.

You could potentially walk them into a nice compo case.

234

marieholmfan wrote: »

You could potentially walk them into a nice compo case.

Eh, so what enormous awards of damages are you familiar with arising out of data protection breaches?

Autonomous

Cheers for information, i suppose the pda/ phone should have the ability to switch off tracking too, at lunchtime etc.
Anyone know if they track when off?

whippet

The GPS function will not work on a PDA or phone when turned off. So just turn it off when work finishes or when on lunch and you shouldn't have any issues.

If they insist that the phone / pda is on 24hours a day then you may have grievance.

Autonomous

234 wrote: »

Eh, so what enormous awards of damages are you familiar with arising out of data protection breaches?

I believe the newer (not published yet) European Data protection will allow for fines up to 10% of company turnover or 25 million

Timberrrrrrrr

Autonomous wrote: »

Cheers for information, i suppose the pda/ phone should have the ability to switch off tracking too, at lunchtime etc.
Anyone know if they track when off?

Turn off, Take the battery out, No tracking then.

marieholmfan

Autonomous wrote: »

I believe the newer (not published yet) European Data protection will allow for fines up to 10% of company turnover or 25 million

Those are fines. Your remedy would be under bullying implied by the failure to follow the company's own procedures or to have procedures in place.

Totally hypothetical for now.

Autonomous

marieholmfan wrote: »

Those are fines. Your remedy would be under bullying implied by the failure to follow the company's own procedures or to have procedures in place.

Totally hypothetical for now.

Bullying? No i would think so, more like non-compliance fines and possibly damages payable on conviction.

Ravenid

A legal out? Yes.

"No thank you I don't want a phone/iPad/Tablet/Laptop."

Otherwise the company has every right to take what steps it believes are required to ensure the security of their equipment.

The Data Protection Commissioners has already ruled that companies can already gather location data on their equipment.
It has to be handled correctly but this webpage https://www.dataprotection.ie/docs/Guidance-Notes-Monitoring-of-Staff/208.htm should give you all the info you need.

Companies use Mobile Device Management systems like Airwatch for this and to be honest they don't tell you crap about where a user is. They are mostly on for insurance reasons. Lost or Stolen phones are never gonna be recovered by the company (Unless you dropped it down the back of the couch again ) its just a tick of a box to ensure they get their money back.

Really if you are this worried about your employer watching what you do when off work I'd be asking a better question:

Are you really happy in your job?