UK mulls making employers ask before installing bossware

The UK Department for Business and Trade is considering requiring employers in Great Britain to consult workers before deploying workplace monitoring technology (WMT), including AI-powered productivity scoring, keystroke logging, and biometric surveillance. The consultation, running until September 30, asks whether non-statutory guidance, a statutory code of practice, or a legal duty to consult trade unions or employee representatives is needed, citing that one in three UK organizations actively monitor employees' digital activity. The government warns of risks to privacy, autonomy, and biased outcomes, while data protection specialist Stephanie Lees of Pinsent Masons says it would add a further layer of oversight for employers.

UK mulls making employers ask before installing bossware Source: The Register https://www.theregister.com Proposals span AI productivity scores, keystroke logging, biometrics, and other ways to watch workers The UK government is considering forcing employers in Great Britain to consult workers before rolling out "bossware," opening the door to new rules covering everything from AI-powered productivity scoring to keystroke logging and biometric surveillance. The Department for Business and Trade wants to know whether the rules governing workplace surveillance still make sense as software increasingly tracks employees' activity, measures their performance, and supports decisions that affect their working lives. Ministers haven't settled on an approach. They're asking whether non-statutory guidance would be enough, whether a statutory code of practice is needed, or whether employers should be legally required to consult recognized trade unions or elected employee representatives before introducing workplace monitoring technology WMT . The consultation says WMT is becoming more common, citing research in which one in three UK organizations said it actively monitored employees' digital activity. Two years earlier, ICO research found the figure stood at one in five employers. The government argues WMT can improve productivity, investment, and economic growth when used well. But it also highlights several pitfalls, warning of "risks to privacy and autonomy," "disproportionate or unnecessary surveillance," and "biased or unfair outcomes" where monitoring systems rely on incomplete or inaccurate data. Artificial intelligence /glossary/artificial-intelligence features prominently throughout the consultation, though the proposals extend well beyond AI alone. It notes that WMT can incorporate automated decision-making and algorithmic management, raising questions about transparency, accountability, and the impact of technology on workers. Exactly what counts as workplace monitoring technology, though, is another question. The government is proposing a broad definition covering everything from CCTV and access control systems to biometric technologies, location tracking, keystroke monitoring, productivity software, and systems that incorporate automated decision-making or AI. The consultation asks whether that definition is too broad, too narrow, or about right – an acknowledgment that deciding what qualifies as "bossware" may prove trickier than deciding what to do about it. The consultation, part of the government's broader Make Work Pay reforms, runs until September 30. If ministers impose a statutory consultation duty, compliance teams won't be short of reading material. Stephanie Lees, a data protection specialist at Pinsent Masons, said it would add "a further layer of oversight" for employers already juggling GDPR, local employment laws, and the EU AI Act. It could also mean that rolling out the latest AI-powered workforce optimization /glossary/optimization suite could become as much an HR exercise as an IT one. ®Get AI news in your inbox Daily digest of what matters in AI.