Calif. Workplace Surveillance Bill Clears Assembly Committee
A workplace surveillance bill received unanimous support from California Assembly members at a Labor Committee hearing late Wednesday. The panel voted 5-0 to advance AB-1221 to the Privacy Committee despite concerns from business groups.
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Assemblymember Isaac Bryan (D) said his bill aims to "prohibit the use of invasive and potentially discriminatory surveillance systems in the workplace” and “protect worker data from being sold or shared by their employers." He said employers can currently use “surveillance data for predictive behavior analysis to prevent workers from exercising their protected rights or to figure out deeply personal information such as health or immigration status." AB-1221 would require advance notice to workers when employers use surveillance tools "so workers know where, how and if they are being monitored in new and advanced ways."
Several labor unions supported the bill. "AB-1221 will establish first-in-the-nation protections for workers by establishing human oversight, transparency ... and data protections,” said Ivan Fernandez, California Labor Federation legislative advocate.
However, the California Chamber of Commerce condemned the bill as a job killer. "We do not object to some level of disclosures regarding data that may be used to, for example, discipline an employee,” but the business group has great concern about the bill’s possible practical impact, said Ashley Hoffman, CalChamber senior policy advocate.
For example, AB-1221 is too broadly written, said Hoffman. It would require discloses for turning over information to attorneys or insurance companies, or even for due diligence on attempted mergers, said the lobbyist. Additionally, the bill should exempt investigations for things like insurance fraud and have different rules for aggregated deidentified data and individualized data, she said.
Other opponents included TechNet and California groups representing retailers, grocers and other kinds of businesses.
Bryan responded that his bill isn’t imagining "dystopian, futuristic depictions of what work life may be,” added Bryan. “This is reality ... right now." He said to view AB-1221 as the start of the conversation about what guardrails are needed.
Labor Committee Chair Liz Ortega (D) agreed. "It's happening and we're playing catchup."