Response to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Request for Information on Automated Worker Surveillance and Management

Summary

The UC Berkeley Labor Center welcomes the opportunity to provide input to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) in response to the Request for Information on Automated Worker Surveillance and Management posted on May 1, 2023.

Drawing from our own research analyzing trends in the data-driven workplace and impact of these technologies on workers, our goal in this comment is to highlight evidence indicating the prevalence of automated workplace surveillance and management technologies (Section I), impact on workers resulting from employers’ use of these systems (Section II), and principles and policy models for worker technology rights and protections (Section III). As an addendum, we submit a few of our research publications which analyze trends in the data-driven workplace and provide a comprehensive framework of the technology rights that workers need and deserve.