A reader writes:
I work in higher education, in a field that’s particularly under political fire. Because of the anti-DEIA law, there are people who have been targeted and fired because of anti-diversity advocacy. Some incidents include videos that were taken secretly and then edited for maximum damage. This caused people to lose their jobs and created an atmosphere of anxiety.
I work in an environment that requires collaboration and collegiality to get the job done. During a casual meeting with a friendly coworker, he mentioned that another coworker had shown him a piece of technology he was now carrying with him, which allowed him to record people around him without their knowledge. Think Meta Glass but actually more discreet (like an AI transcribing device you can carry in your pocket). This information was *sort of* given in confidence, because only the person who told me would know that our colleague was walking around with it. I hope that after receiving your advice I will come back and have an in-depth conversation about what can be shared.
I kind of walked away from that conversation nervously. There are specific norms related to privacy in my profession that are obviously contrary to this technology and our front-facing policies reflect those norms. But our policy norms are not the same as those in the larger workplace and there is certainly a small but vigorous minority of people who will try to argue for the use of technology.
Despite this, I am extremely uncomfortable with the idea of ​​this co-worker wandering from one meeting to the next, recording colleagues without their knowledge. The place I work at is extremely hierarchical and although I’m not at the bottom of the hierarchy, I don’t really interact with this person. So technically I have no way to stop him directly. But I have strong networks in administration that I can draw on. It also raises larger issues about recording coworkers, trust in the workplace, and current standards of privacy.
I guess I’m asking, am I overthinking/overreacting? And if I’m not, what should be the next step and what recommendations can I make to make sure my colleagues know there is a recorder in our midst?
You’re not overthinking or overreacting. Most workplaces have policies or practices that assume or require that people be informed before being recorded, and having someone secretly record every work conversation (and then sending the data somewhere else to be processed and stored by AI) raises huge security issues.
As these devices become more common, employers will need to come up with more clear policies to address their use.
In fact, are you sure that your organization Not there. Are there existing policies that will cover this? It is possible that they do so, even if this specific technology is not contemplated in those policies.
However, either way, it’s a very worthwhile thing to bring up. In fact, I would argue that now that you know about it, you have one. obligation To amplify this (doubly if you’re in any kind of leadership or senior role). Go to those strong governance networks you mentioned, explain what you know, share your concerns and ask how it can be addressed.
