Contact tracing is an arduous, multi-step process. That’s why smartphone apps started popping up, using a phone’s GPS or Bluetooth to locate, trace, and notify people who may have been in contact with a person known to have the coronavirus. Though a lot faster than manually retracing a location history, these apps may also collect data that you may not want them to have.
This problem of overreach is causing many people to be concerned about how their privacy is being affected. We all want to work together to stop the virus, while also returning to work and keeping the global economy moving, but at what price?
Businesses are in a precarious spot. Though using smartphone apps may seem easier, there are a lot of concerns around employee privacy which could create a wealth of hassles, including legal issues, lack of employee confidence and engagement, low consumer confidence, and a reduction in productivity.
To overcome these challenges, companies are looking for solutions that won’t infringe on workers’ privacy while still enabling them to ensure employee safety at work. That’s where TRACE Sensors comes in.
Let’s take a look at some of the ways TRACE Sensors helps businesses stay open and stay safe.
1. Employee confidence in safety and privacy
This is an uncertain time, and everyone would like to have something they can count on. For some groups, especially for the most vulnerable to the virus, there is a lack of trust when it comes to privacy and being digitally tracked. It’s also unclear how many people need to use a contact-tracing app for it to be effective.Researchers at Oxford University suggest that 60% of a population would need to use a contact-tracing app in order to stop an outbreak.
Whether employees have privacy concerns, or just aren’t technologically savvy, it’s very unlikely you could get more than half of all your employees to effectively use a contact-tracing app. And those who do, can just turn off the location-tracking features, making the whole exercise moot.
TRACE Sensors can bridge gaps in employee confidence with a simple, non-invasive, and highly effective way to arm your employees in the war against the coronavirus, and let them know that keeping their personal lives private is important to you. Worn on a badge or clipped to clothing, the location information TRACE Sensors tags gather can only be collected using the ceiling-mounted locators within the facility. Once the tag is out of range, no more data is gathered using that device.In addition, while in your facility employees can be notified—using a vibrating or audible alert—when they’re too close to one another, helping them work together while staying safely a part to get the job done.
Wearing a tag, like TRACE Sensors, that only records location data when in the facility and that can’t be turned off, enables you to have 100% coverage within your plant to effectively track and trace any outbreaks, should they occur.
2. Apps are an easy target for hackers
Let’s face it, hackers are always looking for an easy way to score valuable personal information. The real-time data contact-tracing apps provide about people’s behavior could be a treasure trove to opportunistic bad actors. From collecting personal identification numbers to phishing scams that could unleash malware and ransomware on devices, IT specialists warn of the potential privacy and security issues posed by these apps.TRACE Sensors removes the worry.
Employees don’t have to be identified by name and the data gathered is stored on an, independent, secure cloud-based server, that can only be accessed by those with the proper credentials. Employee information, such as name, is only used for notification purposes if they could have come in contact with the virus.
3. No phone required
Phone-based apps aren’t reliable for many workplace scenarios—from factories that require workers to keep their personal devices in their lockers to counting on employees to ensure their phones are charged or they don’t forget them at home.TRACE Sensors overcomes these challenges with its badge-like tag that is worn while only at work, and with your choice of long-lasting batteries or rechargeables that send an alert to the management dashboard when a battery becomes low.
You don’t have to compromise employee safety with employee privacy. You can have both. See for yourself how TRACE Sensors can protect your business’s future and your employee’s privacy.
Schedule a demo today.
