Are We Going Too Far: The Case of Biometric Employee Surveillance

Technology is advancing and with it, new gadgets started to pop out. Nowadays, biometric technology is something a lot of industries use. With it, you pretty much aren’t obligated to carry a device with you which will serve as a key. The key itself is actually you and your body. Some common examples of biometric technologies include fingerprint scanning, voice and facial recognition, but even iris scanning is getting more commonplace in smartphones. This technology enables fast and secure authentication, which is already in place in many smartphone apps and is used mostly to authorize payments. And this opened a whole new level of security opportunities for many businesses.

So, we know that biometric technology has become a must have for virtually every smartphone, but is this complicated high tech useful for surveillance of your employees? Let’s find out. 

Fingerprints

We all have fingerprints right? And it’s an identification which is unique to each one of us. There isn’t one same fingerprint in the world. So basically, you own a tool, right under your fingertips (exactly), which is your personal identification and there isn’t a single one that looks the same in the universe.

People recognized how powerful this really is and eventually started to use it. When first fingerprint scanner made its debut, people were skeptical. You don’t let someone take your fingerprints so easily, right? If they aren’t the police. But, strict policies and data protection gave them a bit of courage, so little by little, people came to terms with the fact that such a technology is inevitable. And since then, many businesses used fingerprints as one of the main sources of identification. They are placed everywhere - building entrances, as a replacement for various passwords, etc. But it’s not unusual to see a company tracking employees by using the biometric data.

How to monitor computer activity with biometric technology such as fingerprint scanner you may ask? Basically, when your employees come to work, they check in with their fingerprint. And from this moment, the system recognizes that they started working and monitors their activities. From taking breaks, working on their computer or just hanging around with other colleagues, everything is captured and uploaded to a cloud which is connected to your fingerprint. So you have a log of your whole day and the way you’ve spent your time. Most of these systems are usually connected to camera surveillance and combined together they gather information which couldn’t be collected in any other traditional way, such as using office computer monitors which we’ll talk about later. 

Eye Scanners

Apart from fingerprints, your eyes are unique as well. You maybe saw this in spy movies, when a couple of thieves want to break into a bank vault, but the bank has a never-before-seen security system, which requires quadruple eye verification combined with fingerprint scanners and motion detectors. It’s a very hard mission for them. But nevertheless, this shows exactly why eye scanners are considered as a top security option. Each  cornea of a human eye is different and serves as a personal identificator similar to fingerprints. 

Eye scanners are usually used for tracking the time of employees. They automate the authentication process whenever employees access company property. Just think about it - there is a scanner at the entrance of the building where you check in. And you check out scanning your eyes when you finish your work. There’s no way that you can trick the software about the time you spent working as you can with some clock in system app. It’s convenient and thus more easy to use. Also, the data gathered is a lot more protected than with other time tracking devices.

Computer Monitoring Software

If you aren’t exactly keen on implementing biometric technology to your company, don’t worry, there’s a way less intrusive way. If you’re asking yourself how to spy on your employees, then maybe you should stick to the biometric tracking. But, the less intrusive method  I had in mind is employee monitoring software. It’s perfect for monitoring what your employees do throughout the day and finding out if they spend their time on productive activities or lurking around news sites. 

It isn’t as high tech as the biometric options, but this doesn't mean it isn’t reliable. In fact, most companies use it as a way to monitor user activity on the network. It’s easy to use and your employees will probably be a bit less nervous if you use it instead of gathering information from with the help of their fingerprints. 

In most cases, you can track computer activity for free since there are a lot of free options on the web and most professional employee monitoring platforms offer a free trial period. In contrast to this, biometric technology is very expensive and you often need a lot of knowledge to implement such a system into your business.

Conclusion

Either way, now you know why biometric technology is becoming more and more popular. The fact is that you’ll probably need to implement such a system in the future. But not in the near future. If you want something less intrusive and less expensive, you can always use network computer monitoring software and be carefree about your employees.

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