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Teamsters Support Regulator Efforts to Scrutinize Mass Surveillance, Urge Focus On Workers
(WASHINGTON) – The Teamsters Union supports recent efforts by the Federal Trade Commission to scrutinize the troubling rise of mass surveillance and urges the agency to explore how commercial surveillance and lax data security practices pose unique harm to workers.
The FTC plans to host its Commercial Surveillance and Data Security Public Forum on Thursday to evaluate several concerns it is seeking public comment on. The agency is exploring potential rules to “crack down on harmful commercial surveillance and lax data security.”
“As terrifying as it is, working people are growing accustomed to their personal information being exposed and exploited by corporate interests who face little accountability or punishment,” said Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien. “Regulators have got to give these corporations a taste of their own medicine. Corporate America builds and sustains itself by bullying working people or robbing them blind entirely, whether its unpaid wages or private data. The advancements that employers have made to workplace surveillance are another appalling reminder that Big Business will never change its playbook. Working people must fight back.”
The Teamsters have repeatedly made clear that the methods employers like Amazon and UPS use to monitor workers are developed to stifle any concerted activity by employees, while also surveilling unsuspecting consumers. These dangerous corporate tools include navigation software, driver-facing cameras, item scanners, wristbands, thermal cameras, other security cameras, and recorded footage.
“The Teamsters are encouraged by the Federal Trade Commission’s efforts to crackdown on corruptible commercial surveillance, and we urge the agency to meaningfully explore how harmful these practices are to workers and consumers alike,” O’Brien said.
Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents 1.2 million hardworking men and women throughout the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. Visit Teamster.org for more information. Follow us on Twitter @Teamsters and “like” us on Facebook at Facebook.com/teamsters.