New Microsoft monitoring software considered ‘intrusive’

Computer giant Microsoft has recently filed a patent application for a new software program that some have called an intrusion of privacy.\nThis new software will allow employers to monitor employees’ body temperature, heart and respiration rates, brain signals, blood pressure and facial expressions. The program is intended to alert managers if an employee seems to be depressed, overworked or stressed, a spokesperson for Microsoft said. However, this type of software could be considered an invasion of employees’ privacy. \nThe spokesperson stressed that this is only an application and not yet an actual device. She also said the biometric aspect is only a small part of the software as a whole. \n“The critical issue is going to be how it’s used,” IU law professor Fred Cate said. “It’s clear that it could have enormous potential for invading privacy, but so does lots of other technology that we use.”\nCate specializes in privacy and security issues and is also a member of Microsoft’s Trustworthy Computing Academic Advisory Board. The board meets twice a year to discuss issues with new products Microsoft is developing, but does not usually hear presentations on patent applications.\n“We wouldn’t talk about anything this early,” Cate said. “They have patents for all kinds of things that they don’t use. They have them just so other people can’t use them.” \nPatent applications typically take three to five years for approval. Adding the time required for Microsoft to manufacture and market the product, this technology won’t appear in the workplace anytime soon. \nMichael Grueninger, president of Grueninger Travel Group, said he has no interest in the software. \n“That’s kind of intrusive,” he said. “I can see how some employers might want to know their employees’ stress levels or something like that, but a good company would already have policies in place (to deal with those issues).”\nAlthough the software raises questions of privacy, the Microsoft spokesperson said the monitoring is intended to make it easier for managers to assist their employees when they’re having problems. The spokesperson called it an “interactive help desk.” But the area of privacy still remains murky.\n“The answer to these questions is always that it depends,” Cate said. “If employers were monitoring this sort of thing without your consent, clearly it would be an invasion of privacy.”\nCate sees how the software could present problems. \n“I suspect workers wouldn’t like it,” he said, “but workers are already subject to all kinds of policies that invade their privacy. Lots of employers monitor their employees’ phone calls and e-mails.” \nFor now, though, Grueninger considers the software less helpful and more stressful.\n“I think there’s a stress factor involved if you’re monitoring my blood pressure and my heart rate and everything else,” Grueninger said. “You need a structure where the employee is going to come and talk to you. I’ve got other priorities in software purchases.”