As helpful as wearables can be, they are generating a headache for business IT departments.
A leading law firm has released a statement that has provided a considerable amount of insight regarding a new view of wearable technology, which has to do with the privacy headaches that are being generated for employers.
Smartwatches and augmented reality glasses are now stepping into the workplace, with benefits and drawbacks.
As helpful as these wearable technology devices can be, they also have an intrusive side that can be utilized by workers in order to take secret videos or photographs. These are starting to cause many employers to feel a considerable amount of concern, according to a lawyer from Morrison and Foerster, Susan McLean.
There are a range of different types of privacy implications resulting from the use of wearable technology in the workplace.
As this mobile technology continues to become more mainstream, it will be up to employers to come up with the necessary policies to decide exactly how workers will be able to use these devices, and then to know how to enforce these regulations. McLean provided the example that if Google Glass were used in a workplace to record videos of a meeting that includes other workers, it could be interpreted as bullying.
Another example is that an employee who is facing disciplinary action would be able to use augmented reality glasses to secretly record a meeting so that this video could be used later on in legal proceedings. Due to these types of risk, McLean cautioned that “Companies have to be very clear on how and why employees use wearable technology.”