LONDON (UK) United Kingdom’s privacy watchdog, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), is probing Barclays Plc after it was alleged that its staff was spied by the bank, the agency said on Sunday.
Earlier this year, Barclays informed that it was changing a system which traced how employees spent their time at work. This has come after critical media reports accused the bank of spying on its staff.
The ICO said on Sunday a formal probe was being conducted but it could not say when the investigation would come to an end.
An ICO spokesman said, “People expect that they can keep their personal lives private and that they are also entitled to a degree of privacy in the workplace.”
He added, “If organisations wish to monitor their employees, they should be clear about its purpose and that it brings real benefits. Organisations also need to make employees aware of the nature, extent and reasons for any monitoring.”
Late in February, Barclays said it was changing how it used the Sapience software so it would now track only anonymised data, in response to staff feedback that the system was intrusive.
Such systems use voice recognition and other behaviour-tracking tools to keep a watch on unusual behaviour or misconduct, has been common among banks and other financial firms.
(Photos syndicated via Reuters)
This story has been edited by BH staff and is published from a syndicated field.