to object to my colleague having access to my car tracker

[posypom]

I have a company car which has a tracker in it for "corporate manslaughter reasons", although I know they're also used to check that people are doing what they say they're doing. I don't mind having it (although I know some people do) because previously only my boss and HR had access to it and I do my job honestly and properly - I have nothing to hide. Plus I know neither of them have the time or inclination to look at what I get up to on evenings and weekends (which is rarely anything exciting but that's not the point!).

We have a new sales manager who told me that he'd asked our boss for access to his team's car trackers as he believed one of the team was not doing their job. He then went on to say that he'd been given access to ALL the company car trackers, including mine.

AIBU to be a bit cross about this on the grounds of privacy? He's not my boss or HR. Although I'm pretty certain he's on a higher salary than me, he's not technically senior to me as we both report to the same person, although in different roles. I doubt he'd use the information for anything "untoward" but I feel a bit uneasy that the information was given to him firstly when he doesn't need it or have any right to have it and secondly without anyone actually telling me. At the moment I don't believe any of the other sales managers in the company have access to the trackers but now that he has it I wouldn't be surprised if all the other managers ask for the same info so they can keep tabs on their teams.

AIBU or should I just forget about it and get on with my job?

[sparkle12mar08]

You are most definitely not being unreasonable. This is Big Brother writ large. The only people who need access to that kind of information are your immediate boss and HR, as you rightly point out. I would be incandescent with rage if this happened to me and would take it as far as possible to get his access removed. You should not forget about it at all, please don't.

[ShoutyHamster]

No. You are right to be furious. It's totally inappropriate. Take it to your boss and HR and don't back down. He is not in a supervisory position over you and it is therefore a breach of your privacy.

[SarkyLady]

YANBU.
There should be clear guidelines as to the circumstances in which this data can be accessed.

[frgaaah]

you are understandably furious - i would be!

Do they not have clear, pre-set guidelines about who has access to this information?

Otherwise, as you say, it will end up being extended to other folk in your workplace - this sort of information should come under rules and regs - is there anything in your company handbook about the trackers e.g. when the data will be checked, who has permission to look into it, procedures for if misuse is spotted, etc?

[dreamingofsun]

if this means he has access to data which shows your movements outside work time, is this not against the data protection act?

he might appear normal at work, but who knows what he gets up to in his own time. i wouldn't want people having access to my personal info - ie whereabouts. how do you know he's not a thief in his spare time and will use the info to break into your house. sorry i had strange phonecalls once and its made me slightly paranoid

[posypom]

Thanks! I'm so glad it's not just me!!
When he told me I said "er... I'm not sure how I feel about that actually" as I was quite taken aback but didn't want to jump in all guns blazing. He was surprised I had a problem with it and said he didn't have any intention of looking at my car tracker as he had no need to, but that's neither here nor there in my opinion.
I don't know what happens in other companies with guidelines of use and stuff - does anyone else have any experience of this?

[ashamedandconfused]

so this guy is new, unknown, and has been given info which others more senior to you/longer serving do not even have, which could have the potential to be misused in all sorts of ways?

i would not be happy - do you have a union you can ask for advice?

[frgaaah]

posypom, my BIL is a plumber's labourer (he gets picked up in a company van each morning although the actual van is allocted to the plumber -large national plumbing company) and 2 (3?) years ago they had trackers installed on their vans for the first time

mos tof the employees kicked up a stink about it but it went through anyway (they were trying to cut down on the amount of unaccounted time, but i think it was officially done with a "tracking jobs" focus i.e. to warn customers if they were going to be late or something). i'm pretty sure that, from the fuss i think the installations caused, there WILL have been something written in saying who has access to the data and when they're likely to acces it

sort of similar to "acceptable IT use" policies in my office

so i can't tell you for sure that BIL only has e.g. his boss at the office looking at the data, but i do know that it had to be handled delicately re: the employees rights - i think BIL spoke to his union, etc - there WILL be precedents set for this sort of thing

[AMumInScotland]

If he "doesn't plan to look, because he has no need to", then he just plain shouldn't have the access in the first place!

[dreamingofsun]

whatever is written down in the processes you might well find that unless someone has a justified reason to have access to personal information its against the data protection act.

its different in the plumbing example as i imagine the vans are only used in work hours nd therefore its not personal info.

[ThisIsANiceCage]

Why would he need direct access to anyone's data? If a member of the team isn't doing their job properly, surely that's an HR matter anyway, so he should ask HR to use their data access to monitor - if that's legal.

If you've been officially informed the tracker is for corporate manslaughter, but it's actually used for checking up on people, that could be a breach of the DPA (disclaimer: IANAL or data controller).

Here's the Information Commissioner on the subject:
"You need to be clear about the purpose or purposes for which you hold personal data so that you can then ensure that you process the data in a way that is compatible with your original purpose or purposes (or ?not incompatible?, as the Data Protection Act says.) Specifying those purposes at the outset is likely to help you avoid the possibility of ?function creep?. It should also help you decide what information to give individuals to comply with the Act?s fair processing requirements."

[posypom]

I'm not a member of a union. The other complication is I'm due to go on mat leave in 6 weeks and I'm concerned that while I'm off I'll have no idea who else has been given access to this data. I'm allowed to keep the car during ml.

[caughtinanet]

I don't think you are being unreasonable at all and I would sak HR for a copy of the policy concerning who has access to the data.

Do you use the company vehicle for work purposes at night ? Corporate manslaughter seems a very unusual reason to have a tracker fitted. I assume this would only come into play if the vehicle was being used in the course of your job so I would have thought that there can be no justification for having the trackers on outside of working hours anyway.

Going on ML could potentially be an issue though as you don't know how the new salesman will view this and I can see that you might not want to rock the boat at this stage.

[dreamingofsun]

Where sensitive personal data is concerned, it is particularly important to make sure you collect or retain only the minimum amount of information you need.

If you need to hold particular information about certain individuals only, you should collect it just for those individuals ? the information is likely to be excessive and irrelevant in relation to other people.

this is point 3 - haven't read all others but seems to contravene act in several places already. why does he need access to your personal whereabouts outside work? And in theory this could be very personal info - eg you might regularly visit an aids clinic or jail on your days off?

[dreamingofsun]

ref rocking the boat - surely you are just being helpful and professional - you surely would not want your org to be in contavention of the act - there's usually a big fine involved and its bad publicity for your corporate brand.

[posypom]

I just spoke to HR to ask for a copy of the policy and explained why I wanted to have a read through and was told that the sales managers (apparently there's more than one!) who have access to the data have legitimate reason to access the data and they've been told only to access the data for the people they line manage, so the company isn't breaching data protection. Apparently HR don't know how to filter the tracker info to give someone access to only part of it so they all have access to all of it.

It strikes me as a little bizarre that telling someone "here's a whole load of data but just don't look at the stuff you shouldn't" is complying with data protection. Aren't they just being incredibly naive and overly-trusting? They said I had no need to worry while on ML as no one would look at the data. But how do they know what the sales managers are going to look at and do with the information?

HR are going to get back to me with the policy so I can read through it.

[posypom]

caughtinanet, I use the car for both work and personal use, but obviously during ML it'll only be for personal use. They're fitted and managed by a third party company (who I presume is also complying with data protection but I won't go there!!) and I don't think my company is able to turn them on and off, although I might ask if it can be turned off while I'm on ML.

Apparently the corporate manslaughter thing is because companies were getting sued when people persistently drove unsafely in company cars during work hours and then killed themselves or others. I was told that the tracker was monitored to check that I kept to speed limits and if I didn't I'd get a warning. I need to check what the policy says as it could also say that it's used for other purposes, but that's all I remember from when I read it when I first joined the company.

[EldritchCleavage]

I would contact the Office of the Information Commissioner and get advice. Their website is also very good.

[Inertia]

I'd be astounded if "we don't know how to filter the information " is acceptable within data protection legislation !

Effectively, given that the sales managers are able to track you, even though they've been told not to, means that sensitive information like your medical appointments are available to them, which must breach confidentiality ?up

[Inertia]

Sorry for stray 'up' - fat finger syndrome.

[xstitch]

YA so NBU. If they don't know how to filter it then they should find out because there will be a way. Alternatively the sales managers get a report from HR at agreed intervals regarding the movements of their team.

[posypom]

What's really annoyed me in this was the conversation I had with HR where they basically said "why would he look at your tracker anyway? He doesn't need to see where you are." I'm usually a pretty gullible trusting person but even this seems to be a naive-to-the-point-of-dangerously-stupid attitude.

[xstitch]

I don't mean to be offensive posy but that comment makes them sound pretty thick. Him not needing access is kind of the point.

At my work we have access to computerised medical records. Different staff have access to different areas of these notes depending on what they need to do their job safely and different staff have clearance to add notes to different sections again depending on what is needed to do their job safely. How would HR like it if someone who's job was to type up letters for HR was given access to clinical information about patients because they didn't know how to restrict access to Microsoft Office. I don't think they would like it.

[posypom]

MadamDeathstare. I wonder how I can rephrase "pathetic and not doing their jobs" into something appropriate

Personally I wouldn't care about who had access to the tracking information. I would care about having a wimpy, incompetent HR department.
That's exactly it - my colleague seems a trustworthy enough guy and so do the other sales managers, which is why I posted this on AIBU in the first place. To be honest I'm not all that bothered about it because I trust them not to ransack my house when I'm out at Mothercare, but it does bother me that HR have not considered the fact that they could do this if they wanted.