German laptop retailer fined $12.7M under GDPR for employee surveillance

Re:German laptop retailer fined $12.7M under GDPR for employ... by benjohnson on Sunday January 17, 2021 @04:02PM (#25814926)

While the US doesn't have GDPR - there's some lessons to learn: it's not nice to put people under the microscope all day long.

We're trying to strike a reasonable ballance:

For our business we have an inventory room that is under full and complete survalence - but the rest of the office has none.

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Re:German laptop retailer fined $12.7M under GDPR for employ... by Bayart on Sunday January 17, 2021 @07:28PM (#25816823)

I'm quite certain I've seen at some point on HN a paper to the effect of workplace surveillance and paranoia being actively detrimental to productivity. Plus there was that story about surveillance-as-a-feature being put into Office 360 a short while back.

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Re:German laptop retailer fined $12.7M under GDPR for employ... by scotty79 on Monday January 18, 2021 @09:41AM (#25822207)

That's weird. There was some research that people behave more morally when they think they are being observed. Even if they see themselves looking at themselves in the mirror.

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Re:German laptop retailer fined $12.7M under GDPR for employ... by Bayart on Monday January 18, 2021 @03:26PM (#25826208)

Behaving morally and doing useful work aren't the same thing. Imagining Jesus is behind my shoulder might make me question my need for masturbation, but it sure won't help focusing on code.

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Re:German laptop retailer fined $12.7M under GDPR for employ... by darkfirefly on Monday January 18, 2021 @03:14AM (#25819433)

Just look up the Panopticon, tbh.

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Re:German laptop retailer fined $12.7M under GDPR for employ... by oaiey on Monday January 18, 2021 @01:22AM (#25818800)

Exactly the point. It is not nice to be under a microscope.

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