Radio tracking seen as threat to workers

Technology that allows employers to monitor workers' movements is on its way to this country, bringing serious privacy concerns with it, the Privacy Forum heard yesterday.

The Wellington meeting, hosted by Privacy Commissioner Marie Shroff, was updated on privacy threats to consumers, in hospitals, from misuse of technology, and from the media.

But it was University of Otago law professor Paul Roth's depiction of an Orwellian future where Big Brother electronically monitored every move that sent shivers up spines.

Professor Roth told the forum that radio frequency identification was already in use overseas and would be used increasingly here.

The system uses a radio frequency reader to scan a data tag carried by a staff member, a tag which could uniquely identify what it was attached to.

"Unlike barcodes, the tags are more 'intelligent' in that they have a memory that can provide readers with much more information, and this memory can be added to or altered," Professor Roth said.

"Moreover, there is a continuous link that can be monitored."

The system had been used in workplaces such as hospitals, to track down surgeons in case of emergency and to monitor access to drugs.

Although it was usually incorporated in access cards, some overseas workplaces had implanted tags into employees' bodies, Professor Roth said.

The technology would pose new challenges to privacy rights and expectations in the workplace and would ultimately have to be accommodated under the employment and privacy laws.

Associate Justice Minister Clayton Cosgrove, speaking on behalf of Justice Minister Mark Burton, noted that The Warehouse planned to test a radio identification system to track pallets and cartons in its stores.

"The business advantages also need to be balanced with the need to protect individuals' privacy," Mr Cosgrove said.

"For example, if [the radio identification] chips are to be used to track goods, it may be desirable or even necessary for those chips to be removed or disabled before they fall into the hands of an individual consumer."

Mr Cosgrove told the forum that reforming the Privacy Act would be a priority during the present parliamentary term.

Ms Shroff said there was a high, continuing level of public concern about individual privacy.

A survey of privacy issues had shown those concerns crossed the urban and rural divide, and were held by people of all age groups and lifestyles.