Do’s and Don’ts of Worker Surveillance Technology: The Path to a Fair Future for Workers

Algorithms and emerging forms of adaptive AI are becoming an integrated and increasingly commonplace element of our everyday lives, nowhere more evidently than in the case of surveillance technologies. Given that these technologies are here to stay, we hope to cut through the noise polarizing the debate around their use to question the dichotomized premise that they are either all good or all bad. In truth, worker surveillance technologies (like all technologies) can be misused – for example, when they are employed to intimidate workers and advance unfair and exploitative systems of quota management like Time off Task – or they can be championed by workers – for example, when deployed for their benefit or even protection, as is the case when fishing vessels are equipped with WiFi and other technologies deployed as tools to combat forced labor. As the panel will explore, the difference between technology that works for workers and that which works against them comes down to ensuring that proper human rights due diligence measures are utilized throughout that technology’s design, development, deployment and use. The discussion will delve into the key ingredients needed to ensure technology serves the common good rather than undermining workers’ rights.

We plan to feature a three-speaker moderated panel that will elevate voices from the private, nonprofit and grant-making foundation sectors, all of whom are on the cutting edge of different sides of this fascinating issue.