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How companies surveil workers and ways employees can protect themselves | The TechTank Podcast

A man wearing a protective face mask walks under surveillance cameras as the country is hit by an outbreak of the novel coronavirus, in Shanghai, China March 4, 2020. REUTERS/Aly Song

Today, under the coronavirus quarantines and lockdowns, most of us are working from home. This transition to a virtual world has blurred the lines between professional and personal life … in more ways than one.

We’ve all heard some of the scarier versions of Big Brother. Companies installing technology in their employees’ chairs, that tracks how long they spend at their desks each day. Required employee tracking bracelets, which record how many minutes you spend on your lunch break.

Though the pandemic has isolated us in so many ways, that doesn’t mean we’re entirely alone. In fact, some of us are being watched like never before.

In this episode of the TechTank podcast, Darrell West invites attorney John Ella to discuss how companies surveil employees and what workers can do to protect themselves.

You can listen to the episode and subscribe to the TechTank podcast on AppleSpotify, or Acast.


TechTank is a biweekly podcast from Lawfare and The Brookings Institution exploring the most consequential technology issues of our time. From racial bias in algorithms to the future of work, TechTank takes big ideas and makes them accessible. In a series of roundtable discussions and interviews with technology experts and policymakers, moderators Dr. Nicol Turner Lee and Darrell West unpack tech policy debates and highlight new data, ideas, and policy solutions. Future episodes will explore the role of technology in election interference, disinformation campaigns, school reopening and broadband access, the digital divide and more. Sign up to receive the 

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