Wake Up! Mind Monitoring Tech is Used by Employers, Especially in China.

Posted By Cliff Tuttle | May 1, 2018

No. 1,482

Yes, mind monitoring is not only technologically feasible, it is actually in use in various places around the world, especially in China.  Here is a Chinese newspaper article (in English of course) that explains how employers use sensors installed in hats and caps to monitor brain waves.  This can enable the boss to detect when a worker is about to fall asleep on the job or is in need of break time.  It is reported to result in greater productivity and thus greater profits.

A light-weight electronic monitor in a pilot’s cap can inform the airline whether he is mentally fit to fly a plane.  Apparently, it can detect if one is drunk or on drugs or preoccupied with personal problems.  The company wants to know that pilots and others whose job requires full attention are fully awake, alert and ready to rock and roll.  What’s wrong with that?

What’s right with that?

Presumably, these employees consent to having their brainwaves examined.  After all, they don’t have to work at a certain factory and maybe they are even being compensated for the loss of privacy.  When work is over, they take off the cap and their mind is once again their own.  After all, the boss doesn’t know what you are thinking, she only knows the brain wave types you are transmitting.  No harm in that, right?

Don’t overlook the possibility that this technology might help detect anger, frustration or any of a host of negative emotions.  We can use it to screen dangerous employees, the kind that might go to the Christmas (excuse me, Holiday) party with a couple of semiautomatic weapons.  It might even help us to detect and prevent sexual harassment and other undesirable behavior in the workplace.

With all these societal benefits available, who could complain?  Privacy is just another word for selfishness, isn’t it? Wrap your mind around that one.

In America, since we have certain, er, cultural qualms to overcome, it will be necessary to take a different approach.  We will have to make this technology available to individuals to use to improve their personal productivity. What is unacceptable when imposed from above, will be happily self-administered. That’s the ticket!

Then, one day, we will learn that there has been a security breach somewhere and someone has mined our minds.

CLT

Welcome

CLIFF TUTTLE has been a Pennsylvania lawyer for over 45 years and (inter alia) is a real estate litigator and legal writer. The posts in this blog are intended to provide general information about legal topics of interest to lawyers and consumers with a Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania focus. However, this information does not constitute legal advice and there is no lawyer-client relationship created when you read this blog. You are encouraged to leave comments but be aware that posted comments can be read by others. If you wish to contact me in privacy, please use the Contact Form located immediately below this message. I will reply promptly and in strict confidence.

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