ST. LOUIS, MO (KMOX) - Some employers are using the latest technology to protect their workplaces from a COVID outbreak. That includes systems that monitor social distancing and track temperatures using facial recognition and infrared scans.
Virtual Consumer Editor Megan Lynch wanted to know whether some of those technologies could cross a legal line, so she went to KMOX Legal Analyst Brad Young of Harris Dowell Fisher and Young L.C. "The 4th Amendment of the Constitution gives us a right to privacy when it comes to what the government does," explains Young, "but there are no digital privacy rights when it comes to what employers can do, and that to me is very troublesome."
If employers want to make monitoring a term of employment they can do that, says Young. "If you're using technology in the workplace to make sure that individuals are staying more than six feet apart, anyone would tell you that's a reasonable precaution to take. If there's technology in the workplace that monitors your temperature, if you have a fever or get too warm then it alerts you so that you don't infect coworkers, that's all reasonable and good steps. The question though becomes at what point does that become invasive and at what point does the pandemic crisis end, will that technology continue to be used?
Young adds, both the ACLU and Heritage Foundation have voiced concerns about COVID tracking technology and personal privacy.
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