Woman fired after disabling work app that tracked her movements 24/7

By techbeck
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techbeck

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A woman in California claims to have been fired from her job after uninstalling an app on her smartphone that her employer used to track her movements 24 hours a day. Myrna Arias, a former employee of money transfer firm Intermex, says she was told to keep her phone on at all times and was dismissed weeks after being "scolded" for uninstalling the app. She's now suing Intermex for violating her privacy and wrongful termination, among other allegations.

 

"[Arias' boss] Stubits admitted that employees would be monitored while off duty, and bragged that he knew how fast she was driving at specific moments ever since she had installed the app on her phone," reads the complaint, filed in Kern County Superior Court and spotted by ArsTechnica.

 

"[Arias] expressed that she had no problem with the app

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Nick H. Supervisor

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Was the device company property, or her own device as part of a BYOD initiative? If it's her device then she is surely within her right to turn the app off (although not uninstall it) when outside of working hours. If it's a company device, I would argue it gets a bit more complicated, although the easy solution is to leave it in the office when she leaves at the end of the day (unless she is going away on business.)

But hey, that's just using a bit of common sense. As we all know, companies and laws don't necessarily work that way.

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FloatingFatMan

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If she's not on duty, no company has any right whatsoever to monitor -anything- you do.

 

I wouldn't work for any company that felt a need to monitor me, and I certainly wouldn't permit them to install their software on my private devices.  If I'm a mobile worker, they can give me a car and all the equipment I need and monitor THAT, not me.

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The Evil Overlord

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Interesting, security vs privacy,

I kinda get both parties here, one, a high value firm, fears of theft and corruption etc... The other, an employee who's off duty time is her own... I'd be interested in what president gets set..

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Tha Bloo Monkee

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I know some people who keep 2 separate phones almost for this reason - their business phone which generally stays at home when not working and they have their own personal phone for everything else.  I wouldn't trust any "business" phone.

 

Ridiculous that companies can pull crap like this but again, if she's not working then don't carry the phone around.

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Noir Angel

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Spying on people when they're not working is not only obtrusive, it's a huge personal violation. I hope she takes them to the cleaners.

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fusi0n

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If it's the company's phone, they have 100% right to do this. If it is a BYOD and not in their agreement she signed when taking the job or to get company email, she has a case. Most companies have waivers you have to sign to get company email..

 

It's still BS.. I was testing out some tracking software like this for a law firm I worked for to track the runners.. I remember calling in sick and the next day my boss told me that I must have been sick since I only drove to zaxbys.. I felt pretty violated.. but I was use to that ###### from him..

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Rohdekill

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If she wins (and it sounds like she's got a good case), then she just might do that!

What good case does she have?  

 

Company phone, company software, Company policy.

Idiot carrying a phone around 24/7 that can track you after work.  

Put the phone down, live your life without being tracked.  Common sense 101.

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uxo22

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If she's not on duty, no company has any right whatsoever to monitor -anything- you do.

 

I wouldn't work for any company that felt a need to monitor me, and I certainly wouldn't permit them to install their software on my private devices.  If I'm a mobile worker, they can give me a car and all the equipment I need and monitor THAT, not me.

I guess that depends on what type of a company you work for.  If it's a defense contractor, directly connected to national security and trade secrets, I could see why they want to monitor you.  If the device is a company device, they have the right to install whatever they want on it.  She can always leave her work phone at home and use a personal one (if this is the case.)  I guess without having all the finer details it's hard to tell who is in the right.

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rfirth

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It's one thing to install the software on a company phone. It's quite another to abuse this to monitor your employees everyday activities without a good reason.
 
They should have a process for escalating concerns that require viewing this data. Nobody should be able to seen this data on a whim.
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Ian S.

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The original intent was that "field employees" should launch the app "when [they] start their day" so that employers know where they are. Not as a 24hr tracker. It should have been off/disabled when she was not working.

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Raa

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What good case does she have?  

 

Company phone

 

Ahh, missed that bit - sorry! If that's the situation, then it doesn't look good for her...

It'll probably come down to the fine print in the agreement she presumably signed.

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FloatingFatMan

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What good case does she have?  

 

Company phone, company software, Company policy.

Idiot carrying a phone around 24/7 that can track you after work.  

Put the phone down, live your life without being tracked.  Common sense 101.

 

Actually, if you read the complaint itself, it's NOT a company phone, it's her private phone.

 

In April 2014, Intermex asked Plaintiff and other employees to download and application ("app") called Xora to their smart phones.

 

No mention is ever made of it being a company owned device.

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Rohdekill

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Actually, if you read the complaint itself, it's NOT a company phone, it's her private phone.

 

 

 

No mention is ever made of it being a company owned device.

company issued phone mention here : http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/woman-sacked-for-deleting-app-that-allowed-work-to-track-her-24-hours-a-day-case-claims-10244792.html

 

and here : http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3078229/Worker-fired-disabling-GPS-app-tracked-24-hours-day.html

 

and here: http://rt.com/usa/257609-gps-tracking-company-phone/

 

and here: https://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2015/05/13/woman-sues-employer-for-firing-her-after-she-disabled-24x7-monitoring-app/

 

30 second google search says otherwise.

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FloatingFatMan

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I will take the text of the actual complaint over media articles, any day.

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MikeChipshop Member

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What good case does she have?  

 

Company phone, company software, Company policy.

Idiot carrying a phone around 24/7 that can track you after work.  

Put the phone down, live your life without being tracked.  Common sense 101.

Read the complaint, she was told she had to keep the phone in and with her 24/7 it wasn't her choosing. I'd say she's got a pretty damn good case.

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