‘It’s spying’: CN accused by union of secretly tracking employee’s location

Canada’s largest railway firm is being accused of monitoring extra than simply its trains and freight.

The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference, which is the union that represents 5,500 Canadian National railway workers, alleges CN has been monitoring the whereabouts of a practice operator outdoors of labor hours by a company-issued pill.

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“It’s spying, it’s wrong and it’s illegal in our view” in line with Teamsters Canada’s director of public affairs Christopher Monette, who provides “on top of it being creepy, it’s downright dystopian. It’s something that shouldn’t be happening.”

The union says they’ve purpose to be involved that numerous CN Rail workers might have additionally had their location tracked by the corporate throughout their very own private time after work.

Speaking to CTV National News, Monette says that CN “didn’t tell us this was going on and they didn’t seek consent from workers to use geolocation data” from their firm issued gadgets and believes CN was attempting to maintain their monitoring strategies secret.

“We only found out about this by accident, through a disclosure process where the company was forced to disclose why they were disciplining a worker,” in line with Monette.

CTV National News requested CN for an interview, which the corporate declined. They additionally wouldn’t verify or deny in the event that they’ve been monitoring the situation of a number of of their workers by firm issued tablets.

CN spokesperson Jonathan Abecassis despatched a short e mail assertion stating that the corporate “makes use of knowledge from GPS to make sure the security of its workers whereas on responsibility, in addition to its gear and property.”

“We are in discussions with the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference concerning this matter, so we are going to decline to remark additional.”

The allegations elevate bigger questions for thousands and thousands of Canadian staff who’ve been given firm issued laptops, telephones, or different gadgets.

Employment lawyer Stuart Rudner says he usually hears from purchasers “talking about their right to privacy and suing for invasion of privacy. The reality is there is very little legislation in Canada dealing with privacy.”

In 2022, Ontario was the primary province within the nation to launch digital monitoring laws. The latest legislation, dubbed the “Working for Workers Act”, doesn’t cease employers from utilizing surveillance software program to observe their workforce – so long as they’re clear about how they’re monitoring their workers.

“Where companies get into trouble is when they don’t tell employees they’re being monitored,” says Rudner. “It’s going to be pretty hard to think of a legitimate business reason to track someone outside of their work hours.”

During the pandemic, extra folks started working from house which resulted in additional firms buying and upgrading software program that tracks the productiveness and site of their workers outdoors of the standard workplace area.

Cyber safety analyst and lawyer Ritesh Kotak believes workers who’ve a piece cellphone, pill or laptop computer ought to attempt to buy their very own private gadgets to make use of off work hours.

“These high-tech problems have really low-tech solutions,” Kotak says.

He additionally says that he makes use of a tab to cowl the digicam on his work laptop when he’s not on a video name. Kotak provides that, if potential, workers ought to flip their work gadgets onto airplane mode off work hours.

“It’s necessary to know that info (out of your gadgets) is being collected on a steady foundation by the employer, it’s most likely being saved and there possibly third events who’ve entry to it.”

Monette believes that “workers across the country, in all industries, really need to be mindful of this.”

The Teamsters union says they plan to battle CN, confirming that their attorneys are within the technique of sending a criticism to the workplace of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.