PricewaterhouseCoopers is providing the banking industry with surveillance software that helps them supervise their staff at home. The technology is reaching very far – too far even in the eyes of employers.
The face-recognition software provided by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) that banks and asset managers use for the supervision of their staff in the home officer registered even their toilet breaks.
The intrusion into the privacy of staff has become a topic of heated discussion in London, where the main clients of the PwC-product are based. The company has more such products in the pipeline, but banks have now told the company to ditch the far-going tools, according to U.K. newswire «Financial News» (behind paywall).
Violation of Privacy Rights
The new noise-tracking device presented by PwC would have enabled the compliance staff of trading houses to detect unusual activities in the homes of employees. A partner at PwC told «Financial News» that bank managers had rejected such a tool after being presented with a prototype, because of a concern about a potential violation of people’s privacy rights.
Banks, including the major firms, have invested in control mechanisms and surveillance of trading floors after a series of manipulation scandals had rocked the industry and led to huge fines for the companies concerned.
