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These scenarios are examples of how an agency might apply rule 10 in context.
Employer use of biometrics to monitor attentiveness and detect health information to reduce risk of harm
An employer operates a work site where employees operate heavy machinery, sometimes without other people present. To reduce an identified risk of serious harm or injury, the employer needs to install cameras and use biometrics to monitor employee focus/attentiveness and monitor for health events like a loss of consciousness or injury to the employee, so that an alert can be sent to get help and machinery automatically stopped if necessary. The biometric system that the employer is considering also offers the ability to infer emotions based on facial expressions.
In this situation:
- Monitoring attentiveness or focus would likely be permitted under the rule 10(8), the exception that permits detecting fatigue, attention and alertness if doing so is necessary to prevent or lessen a risk to life or health.
- Detecting health information, such as detecting a loss of consciousness or an injury, would likely be permitted under rule 10(9), the exception for collecting health information if the individual authorises it. The serious threat to life or health exception (rule 10(7)(b)) could also apply, depending on the level of risk to the employee – e.g. if the employee operating the machinery had a medical condition that required additional monitoring and they were operating the machinery in a high-risk environment.
- Inferring emotions would not be permitted as it is restricted under rule 10(5) and no exception applies that would allow it.
Employment law obligations, including consultation with workers, should also be considered when setting up these systems because of the way they capture sensitive information about employees.
Use of biometric categorisation in a call centre
The manager of a call centre is considering using biometric categorisation as part of call centre operations:
- They want to use a biometric-based productivity monitor on the work devices that employees use. The monitor uses biometric categorisation to detect what an employee is focusing on as well as their energy levels, stress and emotional reaction to calls.
- They also want to use biometric categorisation-based analysis on incoming calls to detect the mood and reactions of callers to adjust queue positioning and allocate calls among staff members.
In this situation:
- Monitoring employee attentiveness, focus or emotions etc. would likely not be permitted in this type of situation. It is unlikely that using biometric categorisation in this way would be necessary to lessen a threat to safety, life or health, and no other exception would apply.
- Similarly, using biometric categorisation to detect caller emotions would also likely not be permitted. Again, it is unlikely that it would be necessary to lessen a threat to safety, life or health, and no other exception would apply.
A possible scenario where using biometric categorisation could be permitted in a call centre could be for a crisis or emergency line, where callers are more likely to be experiencing high levels of distress or in dangerous situation. In that case, using biometric categorisation to detect emotions or monitor employee fatigue etc. could be permitted if it was necessary to prevent a serious threat to life or health. However, most call centres are unlikely to meet this threshold.
