• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

This thread is about dystopian workplace surveillance thought control. Wait, what?

Spyxos

Member
I don't think it will be approved in Europe. In the rest of the world phew. Good luck. And I think most employees would simply refuse to wear something like that.
 
Last edited:

badblue

Member
I’d sooner dig ditches than let an employer mind fuck me like this.

Yeah but digging ditching these days is done with heavy equipment. The people that operate those machines need to be focused. They also need hearing protection and radio communication. That pair of headphones can do all that if adapted properly. They could even be made intrinsically safe if need be for use on Brownfield sites.

Tracking what you are thinking is strictly for "safety" reasons of course and only be used if there is an incident.


Also, how long until something like that doesn't need to be attached to you to work?
 
The actual presentation for those interested and don’t need Jimmy Dore’s commentary or watch him reading bits of a Guardian article



The speaker seems to think it can be both good and bad, I don’t think there’s any benefit for this in our current system. We should be looking to make work places safer by any and all other means before monitoring individuals brain waves.

The answer to anyone that wants to resist this is simple: unionise.
 
Yeah but digging ditching these days is done with heavy equipment. The people that operate those machines need to be focused. They also need hearing protection and radio communication. That pair of headphones can do all that if adapted properly. They could even be made intrinsically safe if need be for use on Brownfield sites.

Tracking what you are thinking is strictly for "safety" reasons of course and only be used if there is an incident.


Also, how long until something like that doesn't need to be attached to you to work?
True, I’ll just scrape shit off their boots then. There’s always a need for shit scrapers 🫠
 

Puscifer

Member
I’d sooner dig ditches than let an employer mind fuck me like this. I hope people actually refuse this tech en masse, but I suspect there’s enough people willing to bend over and take it.
Much as my job drives me crazy but I appreciate how we fight against draconian bullshit being pushed on employees. The middle management asshats pushing for a full blown return to the office mentally get reality checked by us that anything we pull they'll be included and presented to HR to get a "full picture" has stopped a lot of it.

The one thing I will warn everyone about is to never, EVER trust Microsoft teams.
 
Last edited:
The answer to anyone that wants to resist this is simple: unionise.
There's too much at stake here to depend on unions. Unions are too unreliable and too uncommon to present any sort of real challenge to this sort of dystopian situation. This is going to need regulation. And by "regulation" I mean full on not allowed under any circumstances. Like lead paint in children's toys type regulation.
 
There's too much at stake here to depend on unions. Unions are too unreliable and too uncommon to present any sort of real challenge to this sort of dystopian situation. This is going to need regulation. And by "regulation" I mean full on not allowed under any circumstances. Like lead paint in children's toys type regulation.

It should be downright banned but our governments are neoliberal enablers of capital, they are already allowing the most heinous labour practices and this won’t be any different.
 
we fight against draconian bullshit

fight me lets go GIF

Season 3 Reaction GIF by STARZ
 

12Goblins

Lil’ Gobbie
The actual presentation for those interested and don’t need Jimmy Dore’s commentary or watch him reading bits of a Guardian article



The speaker seems to think it can be both good and bad, I don’t think there’s any benefit for this in our current system. We should be looking to make work places safer by any and all other means before monitoring individuals brain waves.

The answer to anyone that wants to resist this is simple: unionise.

Thanks. Dore is insufferable
 
Thanks. Dore is insufferable
I'd say he sure can be when he's watching a 3 minute video clip and it takes him 25 minutes because he keeps stopping it over and over to talk, but this was mostly him just reading an article with the text on screen, so I decided to post it. Unlike some of his videos, I thought he did a good job of covering the topic quickly, and without too much commentary until after he was done presenting the article.
 
Last edited:

Mistake

Member
The actual presentation for those interested and don’t need Jimmy Dore’s commentary or watch him reading bits of a Guardian article



The speaker seems to think it can be both good and bad, I don’t think there’s any benefit for this in our current system. We should be looking to make work places safer by any and all other means before monitoring individuals brain waves.

The answer to anyone that wants to resist this is simple: unionise.

I don't think unions are the best solution. We need more privacy laws. You can see similar problems that have already been happening with biometrics
 

FeralEcho

Member
Good,some employers are finally gonna be able to understand what pieces of shit they are when they read the mind of their employees and all they can see îs "praise" for them and their famillies from people too afraid or weak to tell them to their face XD
 

Mr Blobby

Member
the presentation makes a good point of it being useful to monitor safety, but I can't see it beyond a tool to reinforce subservience. Another thing is the human mind naturally wanders, and cool they want to make us work at our optimum, but fuck this 1984 shit.
 

UnNamed

Banned
I don't think it will be approved in Europe. In the rest of the world phew. Good luck. And I think most employees would simply refuse to wear something like that.
EU has already broken Amazon's ass for that device employees have on the arm to monitoring them if they "waste" time while working.

I would also like to know what benefits employers would have to read minds. Mine would be "fuck you idiot" over and over.
 

badblue

Member
The answer to anyone that wants to resist this is simple: unionise.

That doesn't always work. I'm part of Union and there's is a job site we work at routinely that implemented GPS trackers "incase of emergency". Because it's for "safety", they are allowed to implement it if they want and we just have to accept it.

Really depends on what the local labor laws allow.
 

IDKFA

I am Become Bilbo Baggins
My company would be all over this tech. Higher management have already discussed in a briefing last year how they envision a future where they can ban certain "wrong" thoughts.
 
That doesn't always work. I'm part of Union and there's is a job site we work at routinely that implemented GPS trackers "incase of emergency". Because it's for "safety", they are allowed to implement it if they want and we just have to accept it.

Really depends on what the local labor laws allow.

Unions exist specifically to negotiate, lobby and change labour laws. That's their main objective, or at least it should be. I have no idea about your laws, company or union, but it could just be that if this has gone before the members then the majority agreed the "safety" trade off was worth it. Or it could be argued that company property is just that, and the company is free to do with that property as it likes. Have you raised it with your union rep to get an answer from them?
 

Tams

Member
Fucked up and immoral. Yet another reason why regulators are needed.

I will say that for jobs that really do have a substantial safety risks if attention becomes too slack and for that this technology is good. But only when the employee is doing the dangerous activity and the data should only be accessed for the purpose of safety. All access to the data should be logged and accessible to the employee.

Once again, regulators. It absolutely will be abused.
 

Kamina

Golden Boy
No chance in hell this is even possible in Northern and Western Europe.
Hopefully the US can also dodge that bullet.
 

22:22:22

NO PAIN TRANCE CONTINUE
Preface: thought exercise (?)

Extrapolate that for your grandchildren's children's who'll live in "smart cities" where this concept is on your phone ie free designated personal all in one device: phone/credit/etc

All currency and access to your home is digital. Walk a red light: consequence: you'll get a message saying your apartment's electricity will function a hour less because of your behavior that was monitored and instantly linked to your citizenship number ID.

Run a red light: consequence; instant credit loss and or temporary blocked access to w/e.

Pretty bleak. But so SAVE and EASY if you behave ie act as a "good citizen"


EDIT: Just entertaining a possibility. Not sure if this post will be good regarding GAF's TOS.
 
Last edited:

Quasicat

Member
Beside the fact that administration in my district uses cameras and the Microsoft suite (Windows, Outlook, Teams, etc) as a way to track most of what I do in the classroom, last year they took it one step further with voice recognition on the phone system and classroom recording devices. Add to this that the Freedom of Information Act includes public schools and everything I do when I am in that building is monitored.
I can’t imagine what this would do with public employees and everything that is legally listed as public information.
 

badblue

Member
Unions exist specifically to negotiate, lobby and change labour laws. That's their main objective, or at least it should be. I have no idea about your laws, company or union, but it could just be that if this has gone before the members then the majority agreed the "safety" trade off was worth it. Or it could be argued that company property is just that, and the company is free to do with that property as it likes. Have you raised it with your union rep to get an answer from them?

We did but nothing happened. It wasn't a violation of anything in our collective agreement for the Owners of the site to increase safety. Labour Laws also allowed it. So our choice (since we were already there before they implemented it) was wear it or take a lay off.

It was 6 years ago when that happened, our members still work that site.
 
You can’t be serious. Make sure your genitals are represented in a random bathroom reflection and threaten to sue for sexual harassment.

Edit: Now, I can’t be held responsible if they respond that you’re the one who sent the dick pic. Still not sure if you’re serious though, that’s gotta be some kind of harassment. Do you get a demerit for the day if you’re constipated?
 
Last edited:

Days like these...

Have a Blessed Day
You can’t be serious. Make sure your genitals are represented in a random bathroom reflection and threaten to sue for sexual harassment.

Edit: Now, I can’t be held responsible if they respond that you’re the one who sent the dick pic. Still not sure if you’re serious though, that’s gotta be some kind of harassment. Do you get a demerit for the day if you’re constipated?
I might not have been entirely truthful or at all for that matter. I am independently destitute and unemployed. Sorry I just have fomo.
 
x2
Much as my job drives me crazy but I appreciate how we fight against draconian bullshit being pushed on employees. The middle management asshats pushing for a full blown return to the office mentally get reality checked by us that anything we pull they'll be included and presented to HR to get a "full picture" has stopped a lot of it.

The one thing I will warn everyone about is to never, EVER trust Microsoft teams.
Oooh, this touches on my personal kryptonite: paranoia of workplace surveillance.

What specifically should we watch out for? I know Teams can make transcripts of personal calls, and of course your chat logs are all saved. Pretty sure employers can turn on your camera at any point, too, so I always keep mine taped up. Anything else?
 
Oooh, this touches on my personal kryptonite: paranoia of workplace surveillance.

What specifically should we watch out for? I know Teams can make transcripts of personal calls, and of course your chat logs are all saved. Pretty sure employers can turn on your camera at any point, too, so I always keep mine taped up. Anything else?
If that’s the case, guess I’d worry about a hot mic too. Little harder to circumvent than a camera.
 

Puscifer

Member
Oooh, this touches on my personal kryptonite: paranoia of workplace surveillance.

What specifically should we watch out for? I know Teams can make transcripts of personal calls, and of course your chat logs are all saved. Pretty sure employers can turn on your camera at any point, too, so I always keep mine taped up. Anything else?
They will pull your activity and availability in teams and try to tie it into your productivity. "Mouse jigglers" exist to keep you active so teams doesn't show you as inactive, it's basically reading inputs. Do NOT trust that shit man, it's an extension of your boss. I got an offer for a cybersecurity gig recently and can't wait to back out of this shit
 
Last edited:

Toons

Member
The actual presentation for those interested and don’t need Jimmy Dore’s commentary or watch him reading bits of a Guardian article



The speaker seems to think it can be both good and bad, I don’t think there’s any benefit for this in our current system. We should be looking to make work places safer by any and all other means before monitoring individuals brain waves.

The answer to anyone that wants to resist this is simple: unionise.


All of this.

And yet another reason why a whole lot more ppl are gonna be pushing for work from home
 
Last edited:
All of this.

And yet another reason why a whole lot more ppl are gonna be pushing for work from home
You think they won't require that employees wear these things at home? Trust me when I say Unions aren't going to save us from this sort of thing. They don't have the power to do so at the scale that this would require. There's only one solution to this.




I might not have been entirely truthful or at all for that matter.
Aww, and I was just about to suggest AI generated shit pics.
 
Last edited:
Top Bottom