The Risks of Collecting Employees’ Biometric Data

Companies can now accrue stunning amounts of intimate data about their employees’ bodies. Some might collect biometric data such as fingerprints and retina scans as part of efforts to improve security. Others, such as Amazon, track and analyze workers’ movements with artificial intelligence (AI)–embedded surveillance technologies to promote safety and productivity in warehouses. Companies might even go as far as collecting health data, incentivized by the desire to improve the overall health of the workforce or get discounts on premiums from health insurers. The technology that facilitates this collection has gotten both better and cheaper in recent years. Wearables and mobile devices can count steps, measure heart rates, and provide statistics on sleeping habits. Through “behavioral biometrics,” cameras can identify people based on their gait and posture, for instance, and analyze their behavior.