Cost of living8:52Are you registering? Scan your fingerprint here
When Ellie Thomson arrives at work, she doesn’t swipe her card on a physical watch or check it on an app. Instead, she scans her finger.
“Seeing as everyone else went ahead and did it, it just felt right and there was no problem with it,” Thomson said. Cost of living.
Thomson, a 21-year-old waitress and bartender at a Calgary charbar, is one of many workers now using biometric technology, such as fingerprint scanning, to clock in and out, and the number is growing.
Biometrics is already a billion-dollar industry. According to a report by research firm IMARC Group, the global biometrics market will reach $39 billion in 2023.
While Thomson isn’t concerned about Charbar having her fingerprint, privacy experts have raised concerns about the trend.
Why this change?
According to Hannah Johnston, who specializes in the digitalization of work and teaches human resources management at York University in Toronto, employers have started using biometric technologies in the workplace for a number of reasons.
He says employers say it’s more convenient because people don’t tend to forget their finger or thumb at home, like they might forget a key card. He also says employees have started using fingerprint scans to clock in to check in because they say it’s more accurate.
They want to know exactly when someone logs in, and make sure no one else does it for them.
But not everyone is in favor.
Jeff Bromley, head of the Wood Council at United Steelworkers Canada, says that when Canfor’s Plateau Sawmill in Vanderhoof, British Columbia, introduced fingerprint-based time clocks in 2022, workers revolted.
“They were pissed off to the max,” Bromley said. “At the end of the day, they had no choice except to find another job or get fired.”
About 100 workers filed a petition against the company for using biometric data, citing an unjustified invasion of privacy, and the union filed a grievance. But an arbitrator sided with the company.
Bromley says some people left the company over the issue, and others were fired for refusing to participate. CBC asked Canfor for an interview, but the company declined.
These security concerns, Urs Hengartner says, are justified. Hengartner teaches computer science at the University of Waterloo and specializes in information privacy.
He claims that scanning a fingerprint creates a virtual copy, called a template, which, while not an exact replica of the fingerprint, is a fairly accurate copy.
“A lot of research has shown that using this template, it’s possible to recreate a fingerprint,” he said. “Maybe not your exact fingerprint, but a fingerprint that would allow a hacker to log in as you.”
“From a privacy standpoint it’s a problem, but also from a security standpoint.”
Raising concerns
Johnston says there is no easy way for employees to opt out of many of these types of biometric authentication if they are not comfortable with it.
“One of the reasons why [it’s] yes about that [biometric data is] “The thing about these types of forums is that they are very sensitive and personalized,” Johnston said.
“If the purpose of this type of system is to monitor work hours, I would argue that there are many ways to achieve this type of exercise in a less invasive way.”
She says there are critical questions she believes need to be asked, such as how data is used, stored and disposed of. That’s where Johnston believes the Canadian government needs to step in.
Diane McLeod, Alberta’s information and privacy commissioner, says her office considers the risk of a security breach when reviewing data collection cases.
“You can’t change your biometrics,” McLeod said.
“[If] information was compromised and somehow that fingerprint was duplicated and then used to replace your shoes in other types of biometric applications, leaving the individual with no recourse whatsoever.”
It argues that organisations can only collect personal data if there is a legitimate reason for collecting it and consent is required.
The commissioner said she is developing recommendations and working with the Alberta government to protect data, such as biometrics, collected in the workplace.
“I would encourage individuals who are subjected to these types of tools to actually file a complaint with our office because that gives us the opportunity to make a decision and present our interpretation to other organizations for consideration,” McLeod said.
Nancy Shapiro, a Toronto-based employment lawyer, says that right now, employees don’t have many rights beyond being able to be informed about what’s being monitored.
He says there is no law prohibiting the use of biometrics in the workplace in any province or federally in Canada.
“If you’re unhappy with something at work, you can always find another job. The power of employees is limited to that — they just look for work somewhere else,” Shapiro said.
Moving forward
Johnston isn’t just concerned about the current use of biometrics in the workplace. He’s also worried about what might happen next.
“The thought of normalizing something like collecting biometric data is very concerning because if we agree to allow access to it in the workplace, what then?” Johnston said.
“Will our computer start scanning our face to make sure it’s us sitting in front of our workstation? … It’s just a very slippery slope.”
Meanwhile, Thomson has no objection to charbar having her fingerprint on the file. In fact, she says there are some benefits.
It gives her the confidence that no one else can count the hours for her.
She says we already use our faces and fingerprints to open our phones and pay for things. When it comes to her professional life, biometrics is all she knows.
“I think there’s some concern about identity theft, but as a 21-year-old in my situation, it’s not something that particularly worries me, probably just because no one’s talked to me about it,” Thomson said.
“I think everything will be fine until they start asking for blood samples,” Thomson said.
