Worldwide Data Privacy Awareness Towards Keylogger Employee Management System

Over the last couple of years, global awareness of data privacy issues over keylogger employee management systems has grown immensely, in a way that impacts the workplace. In Denmark, for example, employees are increasingly interested in what data their employers hold about them. In Hong Kong, there is an increase in data access requests from employees, indicating growing awareness of their rights. The same is true in many larger EU countries, but also in smaller ones, such as the Czech Republic, Romania, and Hungary.

In Poland, although employees are used to having their emails and internet usage monitored, any more 'invasive' form of monitoring (such as biotech) would likely be questioned. In Cyprus, the advent of the GDPR has raised awareness, put privacy on board agendas, and changed the attitudes of employers toward employees' privacy rights as a whole. In the UK, the GDPR has raised the risk profile and general awareness of privacy rights, but the fundamental approach to monitoring remains the same.

"The rise of remote or flexible working is putting pressure on employers to keep track of their staff."


Data Protection Law

When monitoring employees, employers need to consider data protection laws, human rights laws, and specific monitoring legislation. All over the world, the challenge is to balance the possibilities offered by new types of technology with individual data privacy rights. Some countries are more at the sharp end of developments of keylogger employee management systems than others. In Germany, several employers have suffered ransomware attacks, forcing employers to increase data protection and establish suitable compliance and monitoring mechanisms. Other countries are more concerned with accommodating a shift in employee working habits.


BYOD Policies

In Ireland and Italy, we see a trend towards 'bring your own device' (BYOD), involving employers in introducing BYOD policies to manage how employees connect to their networks. The challenge for employers is essential to work out how to monitor personal devices used for work in the same way as they monitor company devices. In Italy, a consensus on how employers should do this is yet to be reached. In the Netherlands, more and more employees are working from home and this again leads employers to want to monitor productive activity. Technology is starting to enable this, with wearable tech, GPS trackers, etc., but balancing these developments with privacy is proving a challenge.


Biometrics Approach

In France, the topic is arguably biometrics. The Data Protection Authority (the CNIL) has just issued a new regulation – which is stricter than the GDPR: the purposes for which employers can use biometrics are strictly limited, as are the type of biometrics they can use. For example, biological sampling (e.g. of saliva or blood) is prohibited. Iris, fingerprint, and hand veins, for example, can be used, but the employer must justify why they are using them, including the reason for using one feature over another.

Interestingly, clocking on is an issue in Switzerland too, but from the opposite angle: the authorities are stepping up checks to ensure employers comply with their duty to record hours worked by employees and in consequence, employers are using ever-more sophisticated means of clocking people in and out keylogger employee management system (e.g. voice, fingerprints, and facial recognition) – and that seems to be accepted by workers, for now at least.