Daily Telegraph installs workplace monitors under staff desks

The Daily Telegraph has been the subject of national criticism after installing time monitoring devices under journalist’s desks.

Employees at London’s Headquarters arrived on Monday morning to find small black boxes fitted under their workstations, which reportedly track heat and motion to record when someone is at their desk and when they are not.

The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) has rebuked the newspaper for carrying out “surveillance” without fair warning or jurisdiction, The Guardian reports. Seamus Dooley, NUJ’s Assistant General Secretary commented to the Guardian: “Employers must adhere to strict rules governing the collection of data in the workplace.

“Workers have very strong privacy rights and these must be protected. The right to be consulted on new procedures governing such data is enshrined in law. The NUJ will resist Big Brother-style surveillance in the newsroom.”