Technology that tracks your location at work and the time youSA国际影视传媒檙e spending in the bathroom. A program that takes random screenshots of your laptop screen. A monitoring system that detects your mood during your shift.

These are just some ways employee surveillance technology SA国际影视传媒� now turbocharged, thanks to the explosive growth of artificial intelligence SA国际影视传媒� is being deployed.

CanadaSA国际影视传媒檚 laws arenSA国际影视传媒檛 keeping up, experts warn.

SA国际影视传媒淎ny working device that your employer puts in your hand, you can assume it has some way of monitoring your work and productivity,SA国际影视传媒� said Valerio De Stefano, Canada research chair in innovation law and society at York University.

SA国际影视传媒淓lectronic monitoring is a reality for most workers.SA国际影视传媒�

Artificial intelligence could also be determining whether someone gets, or keeps, a job in the first place.

Automated hiring is already SA国际影视传媒渆xtremely widespread,SA国际影视传媒� with nearly all Fortune 500 companies in the United States using AI to hire new workers, De Stefano said.

Unlike traditional monitoring, he added, AI is making SA国际影视传媒渁utonomous decisions about hiring, retention and disciplineSA国际影视传媒� or providing recommendations to the employer about such decisions.

Employee surveillance can look like a warehouse worker with a mini-computer on their arm thatSA国际影视传媒檚 tracking every movement they make, said Bea Bruske, president of the Canadian Labour Congress.

SA国际影视传媒淭heySA国际影视传媒檙e building a pallet, but that particular mini-computer is tracking every single step, every flick of the wrist, so to speak,SA国际影视传媒� Bruske said.

SA国际影视传媒淭hey know exactly how many boxes are being placed on that pallet, how much time itSA国际影视传媒檚 taking, how many extra steps that worker might have taken.SA国际影视传媒�

There is little data documenting how widespread AI-powered worker surveillance might be in Canada. Unless employers are up front about their practices, SA国际影视传媒渨e donSA国际影视传媒檛 necessarily know,SA国际影视传媒� Bruske said.

In a 2022 study by the Future Skills Centre, the pollster Abacus Data surveyed 1,500 employees and 500 supervisors who work remotely.

Seventy per cent reported that some or all aspects of their work were being digitally monitored.

About one-third of employees said they experienced at least one instance of location tracking, webcam or video recording, keystroke monitoring, screen grabs or employer use of biometric information.

SA国际影视传媒淭here is a patchwork of laws governing workplace privacy which currently provides considerable leeway for employers to monitor employees,SA国际影视传媒� the report noted.

Electronic monitoring in the workplace has been around for years. But the technology has become more intimate, taking on tasks like listening to casual conversations between workers.

ItSA国际影视传媒檚 also become easier for companies to use and more customized to their specific needs SA国际影视传媒� and more normalized, said McGill University associate professor Renee Sieber.

De Stefano said artificial intelligence has made electronic monitoring more invasive, since SA国际影视传媒渋t is able to process much more data and is more affordable.SA国际影视传媒�

SA国际影视传媒淓mployer monitoring has skyrocketedSA国际影视传媒� since AI has been around, he added.

Those in the industry, however, insist thereSA国际影视传媒檚 also a positive side.

Toronto-based FutureFit AI makes an AI-powered career assistant, which CEO Hamoon Ekhtiari said can help individuals navigate workplaces that are being rapidly changed by the technology.

AI can look for jobs, give career guidance, look for training programs or generate a plan for next steps. In the hiring process, it can give applicants rapid feedback about gaps in their applications, Ekhtiari said.

As artificial intelligence permeates Canadian workplaces, legislators are making efforts to bring in new rules.

The federal government has proposed Bill C-27, which would set out obligations for SA国际影视传媒渉igh-impactSA国际影视传媒� AI systems.

That includes those dealing in SA国际影视传媒渄eterminations in respect of employment, including recruitment, referral, hiring, remuneration, promotion, training, apprenticeship, transfer or termination,SA国际影视传媒� said Innovation Minister Fran莽ois-Philippe Champagne.

Champagne has flagged concerns AI systems could perpetuate bias and discrimination in hiring, including in who sees job ads and how applicants are ranked.

But critics have taken issue with the bill not explicitly including worker protections. It also wonSA国际影视传媒檛 come into effect immediately, only after regulations implementing the bill are developed.

In 2022, Ontario began requiring employers with 25 or more employees to have a written policy describing electronic monitoring and stating for what purposes it can use that information.

Neither the proposed legislation nor Ontario law SA国际影视传媒渁fford enough protection to workers,SA国际影视传媒� De Stefano said.

Activities like reading employee emails and time tracking are allowed, as long as the employer has a policy and informs workers about whatSA国际影视传媒檚 happening, he added.

SA国际影视传媒淚tSA国际影视传媒檚 good to know, but if I donSA国际影视传媒檛 have recourse against the use of these systems, some of which can be extremely problematic, well, the protection is actually not particularly meaningful.SA国际影视传媒�

Ontario has also proposed requiring employers to disclose AI use in hiring. If passed, it would make the province the first Canadian jurisdiction to implement such a law.

Provincial and federal privacy laws should offer some protections, in theory. But CanadaSA国际影视传媒檚 privacy commissioners have warned that existing privacy legislation is woefully inadequate.

They said in October SA国际影视传媒渢he recent proliferation of employee monitoring softwareSA国际影视传媒� has SA国际影视传媒渞evealed that laws protecting workplace privacy are either out of date or absent altogether.SA国际影视传媒�

Watchdogs in other countries have been cracking down. In January, France hit Amazon with a $35-million fine for monitoring workers with an SA国际影视传媒渆xcessively intrusive system.SA国际影视传媒�

The issue has also been on the radar for unions. The Canadian Labour Congress isnSA国际影视传媒檛 satisfied with Bill C-27, and employees and their unions have not been adequately consulted, Bruske said.

De Stefano said the government should SA国际影视传媒渟top making the adoption of these systems the unilateral choice of employersSA国际影视传媒� and instead give workers a chance to be fully informed and express their concerns.

Governments should be aiming for something that distinguishes between monitoring performance and surveillance, putting bathroom-break timing in the latter category, Sieber added.

A case could be made to ban some technologies outright, such as SA国际影视传媒渆motional AISA国际影视传媒� tools that detect whether a worker in front of a computer screen or on an assembly line is happy, she said.

Emily Niles, a senior researcher with the Canadian Union of Public Employees, said AI systems run on information like time logs, the number of tasks completed during a shift, email content, meeting notes and cellphone use.

SA国际影视传媒淎I doesnSA国际影视传媒檛 exist without data, and itSA国际影视传媒檚 actually our data that it is running on,SA国际影视传媒� Niles said.

SA国际影视传媒淭hatSA国际影视传媒檚 a significant point of intervention for the union, to assert workersSA国际影视传媒� voices and control over these technologies.SA国际影视传媒�

SA国际影视传媒擝y Anja Karadeglija, The Canadian Press