AIBU to feel concerned about workplace monitoring tools?

[HummingbirdSapphire]

Worried my line manager is tracking my movements outside of office hours via workplace monitoring tools such work mobile and company car GPS tracker. Employers are supposed to declare such activity but who checks?

Why would you be worried you’re being tracked outside of office hours?

Orrrrrrrr are you worried you’re being tracking during office hours because you’re not actually doing what you’re supposed to be doing?

Just leave your work phone at home when you're not on duty?

From a legal perspective, the company’s DPO should have oversight of what monitoring is taking place and for ensuring that it’s a) a legitimate interest with lawful basis and b) that data is being processed correctly and all requirements to inform employees are being met. You can raise your concerns with the DPO and ask them to confirm what monitoring is taking place and raise an objection around the lawful basis for out-of-hours monitoring if you don’t believe the threshold is met. They can then challenge this, but would need to demonstrate sound interest to do so.

Why would they?

Employers are definitely over the top these days. I get watched on cctv all time. That is not what they are most to use CCTV for

I imagine many of us have had a line manager at some point in our careers who we suspect would absolutely love to have this level of nosey insight into where colleagues were going in their spare time! Similar to the many threads I’ve seen where OPs are concerned that their GP receptionist / DC’s school secretary is accessing records inappropriately because they want to sneak at information about people they know.

If OP, for example, has a company car which they are permitted to use for non-work purposes, and is also required to be “on call” at times and therefore can’t just leave their work mobile at home outside of core hours, and also has a micro-manager for a manager, I can appreciate their concern.