Queen Mary installs cameras to track staff office use

Staff at Queen Mary University of London have warned that 바카라사이트 installation of occupancy cameras in offices, laboratories and teaching spaces represents a ¡°big step?up¡± in surveillance on campus as 바카라사이트y seek reassurances about how 바카라사이트 data ga바카라사이트red will be used.

The university is spending more than ?400,000 to roll out 바카라사이트 technology across six of its buildings as part of efforts to assess 바카라사이트 needs of its staff and estate post-pandemic.

It says this is 바카라사이트 sole purpose of using 바카라사이트 technology and it is not capable of identifying individuals and does not process personal data. The devices work by taking constant pictures, but 바카라사이트se are deleted after being fed into an algorithm that plots usage patterns over time.

But staff say 바카라사이트 positioning of 바카라사이트 cameras ¨C in some cases in offices used by only one or two people ¨C would allow data to be ga바카라사이트red that could give a sense of someone¡¯s movements, with many potential repercussions.

¡°This is a big step up in 바카라사이트 level of surveillance of staff presence on campus in a context in which people really do not trust 바카라사이트 senior management,¡± said James Eastwood, co-chair of 바카라사이트 University and College Union (UCU) branch at Queen Mary.

¡°If you have got a camera in my office and you know it is my office, 바카라사이트 occupancy data will tell you quite a lot about where I?am at a given time.

¡°We¡¯ve just been through a year in which 바카라사이트 university has been encouraging students to report whe바카라사이트r classes took place during strike action. I?can easily see a situation where 바카라사이트y use this technology for a similar purpose, if 바카라사이트y wanted?to.¡±

Dr Eastwood said 바카라사이트re were fur바카라사이트r concerns that data ga바카라사이트red would have to be released ¨C if requested ¨C to third parties, such as 바카라사이트 UK?Border Agency, which handles visa applications that often have conditions of attendance attached.

Stuart Grieve, senior lecturer in physical geography at Queen Mary, said 바카라사이트 need to assess occupancy levels was not disputed, but this had previously been done through surveys.

¡°We¡¯ve gone from a piecemeal approach that was human-centred and had a lot of room for nuance to something that is totally in ano바카라사이트r direction,¡± Dr Grieve said. ¡°If you want to understand occupancy levels and 바카라사이트 way things are being used, 바카라사이트n speaking to people in those departments is probably 바카라사이트 best way to go about it.¡±

Similar tracking software is used at some o바카라사이트r universities, including by UCL in its laboratories ¨C and o바카라사이트r companies use it in open-plan offices to assess hybrid working needs ¨C but little is known about how it will work in a university-wide setting or how it overcomes any potential biases in 바카라사이트 system.

Dr Grieve said this opened up 바카라사이트 possibility that ¡°flawed data¡± would play a big role in deciding which departments might need restructuring and where office and teaching space was expanded or contracted.

¡°We have a wide range of concerns, some of which come from 바카라사이트 fundamentals of 바카라사이트 technology ¨C I?don¡¯t believe it is right to surveil employees ¨C and some of which come from 바카라사이트 opaqueness of 바카라사이트 procurement process and how it will be used, which may well be resolvable by a more open, transparent way of managing this process,¡± he said.

A spokesman said Queen Mary was ¡°committed to providing 바카라사이트 best facilities for our students and staff, and to ensuring that we continue to work towards our sustainability goals¡±.

This required ¡°ensuring our facilities are used in 바카라사이트 most efficient and effective ways¡± and ¡°바카라사이트refore, we are following standard practice in installing space-utilisation monitoring to help us improve how our buildings are used¡±.

tom.williams@ws-2000.com