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It's within the rights of an employer to say to the employee "this company-issued laptop/tablet/phone is our property. Don't alter it without permission." Disabling the app probably violated the tacit or explicit terms of use. The simple solution would be to use the work phone during working hours and use a personal phone for everything else. Too many people I know think that because the company issued them a device, then the device is their personal property. It isn't. It's for their use, but the company has the right to control what's on the device and how that data is used.
And her manager bragging that he knows how fast she drives at all times even when not at work, that's not a violation of terms of use?
Uninstalling an app is not destroying property. It can just be reinstalled for the next sucker, I mean employee.
As for the tracking, she may not have known about it up front. Even if they did mention it, she might not have realized the level of intrusion until later. Regardless no company has a right to force employees to accept them as Big Brother when they are off the clock. That is treating employees like prisoners or slaves.
Well that's the big question, isn't it? Do they have that right or not? Supposedly the government does not have that right, but that doesn't stop it from happening. And with private entities you have the added factor of the voluntary contract being involved. You are not required to take a job with a certain company, you are not required to use apps that track you on your smart phone, you are not required to use google or bing to do your web searches. Of course it is nearly impossible to participate in modern life if you don't do at least some of these things but that is a more macro problem than a micro one and may not be the responsibility of any one single private entity.
It's a discussion that our society is going to need to have, but like so many other important discussions we need to have, I'm not sure we're ready for it yet.
Directly on topic: The manager was being a jerk. Requiring someone carry a company phone and be on call 24/7 is not unreasonable for certain job descriptions. Requiring GPS tracking of company property is not unreasonable.
Using that technology to intentionally track employees during personal time is unacceptable, and IMO no different than stalking. "On call" is not the same as "on duty". What if the employer could remotely access the microphone and camera of the phone? This is theoretically possible, and can be used in cases of theft. Would it be acceptable to turn on the mic and camera while she was "getting to know" her significant other?
Related question: Many police forces require officers to go armed 24/7, on or off duty. Many police forces are now requiring on-duty officers to wear body cameras. Assume this is a city-owned firearm and the city would be liable for any shooting. Would it be acceptable for the city to want to GPS track and even camera-monitor the weapon at all times, even when the officer is off-duty?
I mean - I kind of would have liked some kind of app like this on my phone when my job required meeting people in their home - often far away in the boonies with no one knowing where I was or when I was expected back. Sometimes scary.
She should have hid her phone somewhere inconspicuous at his house (in the garden, etc.) all night long. Sooner or later, he'd notice the location, and will be all creeped out when he can't find her or the phone anywhere. He'd be scared of the psycho, bunny-boiling employee.
It's unclear from the lawsuit whether the phones were company issued or personal phones. The complaint states that employees were required to install the software on their smartphones.
She is also suing because Intermex hired her with the understanding that she would continue to work for her previous employer for three months. Her health insurance with Intermex would not take affect for three months, and she suffers from health issues requiring ongoing medical care. Her old company didn't know that she was also working for Intermex.
When Intermex fired her, they also went to the trouble of contacting her old company, informing them that she'd also been working for Intermex, and thus was disloyal. She was fired by her old company and the phone call was cited as the reason for her termination.
As an IT Security Consultant, I can say that I don't need your GPS turned on in order to track you with the right tools. I've worked with companies that have fired people not because of their GPS. Because they were lying about where they were. We don't need your GPS location these days. It's more accurate to have GPS but with Geo Proximity data, companies like Google, NSA, and many other companies can track you without GPS.
The way it's done is that sometimes you are using the internet on your phone and you suddenly get ads that are related to the location that you are nearby. You may not have GPS turned on but because there are WIFI and Mobile Signal towers nearby that can report what devices are connected then Google or other services can analyze and provide relevant ads or searches to you.
This has GOT to STOP! At what point are we going to draw a line with these overbearing employers? You people sit here discussing whether this is ok as more and more freedoms go out the window. The power is already almost fully with businesses, and each time we tip-toe around an issue like this, we fall further behind. This is NOT ok, and we have to take a stand before it is too late. Start electing people who aren't whores to lobbyists, and write your congressmen and let them know employee rights matter!
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