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Apple Responds to Call Center Worker Complaints About Plans to Monitor Them With Cameras at Home

Jackorias said:
My employer doesn't need to see my pick my nose or scratch an itch. They can see what I do on the computer and that I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing. They don't need to watch me.

100% an invasion of privacy and it's just more middle management getting insecure over the fact the climate has completely changed and they can no longer micromanage every little aspect of their employees day.
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So, get off your rear and come to the office if you suddenly don't like WFH
 
Sensational headline, and many people didn't read the article-

but the move to implement monitoring technology in employees' homes does not appear to have come from Apple. Amazon and Uber are also among Teleperformance's clients.
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Unregistered 4U said:
Oh? So, who contacts the Police? If there’s no one in the company who’s job it is to monitor the whereabouts of sensitive data, then who tells the Police that they’ve found sensitive data outside the company?
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Management, or a Director. Do you somehow think that companies with 20 staff say who handle customer data have an internal hit squad of investigators? Think about it.
 
"Colombia-based call center workers who provide outsourced customer service to some of the nation’s largest companies are being pressured to sign a contract that lets their employer install cameras in their homes to monitor work performance"

"Six workers based in Colombia for Teleperformance, one of the world’s largest call center companies, which counts Apple, Amazon and Uber among its clients, said that they are concerned about the new contract, first issued in March."


Its funny how Apple is getting all the heat for this. Apple doesn't manage Teleperformance employees or set company policies they only outsource its services just like Amazon, Uber and other clients.

Lets think about this before judging and jumping to conclusions...

Based on the contract that Apple signed: Is Teleperformance required to report new company policies to Apple on how it manages its employees? Is this new policy a violation of the contract for said rendered services? In other words, can Apple legally back out of the contract because of policy that was instituted by Teleperformance? Any specific laws in Colombia that are violated? etc.

At this point only thing Apple can do is investigate the policy and see if there is a legal way to back out of the contract without penalty or wait until the contract expires (if the policy doesn't violate the contract). This or attempt to pressure, threaten with legal action.

According to the article:

"A spokesperson for Apple, Nick Leahy, said that the company "prohibits the use of video or photographic monitoring by our suppliers and have confirmed Teleperformance does not use video monitoring for any of their teams working with Apple."

Lets give Apple the benefit of the doubt as they do their due diligence.
 
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MauiPa said:
from the article "does not appear to have come from Apple. Amazon and Uber are also among Teleperformance's clients.

A spokesperson for Apple, Nick Leahy, said that the company "prohibits the use of video or photographic monitoring by our suppliers and have confirmed Teleperformance does not use video monitoring for any of their teams working with Apple."

But other than that I agree with you. What creepy language
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Oh I know, I did read the article, I'm just applying it to myself!

I think "Apple" and "privacy" in a headline right now is a way of getting guaranteed clicks.
 
Maconplasma said:
Except some still don't understand because they didn't read the article. You being one of them.
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You don't understand either if you're shilling for the whole call center camera debacle and the iCloud photos debacle. Apple does not know who you are nor do they care for you. They lied about their privacy measures. Get over yourself.
 
Who’s the winner here?

There is no way this is obsessive and intrusive monitoring can be cheaper or more efficient than just letting any potential slackers go if it turns out they spend all day watching Netflix?

How good can the customer experience possibly be when the person on the other end is so desperate that they’re literally willing to live the 1984-life?

Anyone with the slightest talent will obviously look for another job.

Employer get tons of extra admin, employees get a horrible life and customers get worse service.

Again, who’s the winner here? 🤔
 
Pezimak said:
Management, or a Director. Do you somehow think that companies with 20 staff say who handle customer data have an internal hit squad of investigators? Think about it.
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You work for a giant company that deals with sensitive information and the ONLY thing in place to ensure that no one is misusing OR distributing sensitive material is a Manager or Director who may just happen to find out the data has escaped (And, they’re likely not even looking because they’ve got different day-to-day priorities)? Could be true, I guess, but seems like a data breach just waiting to happen. Someone could just get a job, work for a few months, steal some data, leave the company on good terms and sell what they’ve stolen.

Yes, even companies with 20 staff who deal with sensitive customer information either has folks on staff OR has contracted that work out to another company to do it for them. Those that AREN’T handling sensitive customer information would, of course, have much lower requirements.
 
iHorseHead said:
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They should chain people to the desk. A button unlocks the chain … and workers are required to chain themselves again to unlock the desktop. If the lock does not work anymore … means only one thing … you are fired … I mean literally … the thing just goes boom.

Cheaper solution and more privacy oriented. That is the only concern i have with their approach.l ..: the waste of money with webcams AI etc. It’s like those that rotate the house to change a
light bulb … stupid solution.

As some people posted before … don’t like the conditions? … free to choose something else. There are plenty of opportunities everywhere.
 
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Nuno Lopes said:
They should chain people to the desk. A button unlocks the chain … and workers are required to chain themselves again to unlock the desktop. If the lock does not work anymore … means only one thing … you are fired … I mean literally … the thing just goes boom.

Cheaper solution and more privacy oriented. That is the only concern i have with their approach.l ..: the waste of money with webcams AI etc. It’s like those that rotate the house to change a
light bulb … stupid solution.

As some people posted before … don’t like the conditions? … free to choose something else. There are plenty of opportunities everywhere.
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I honestly disagree with the fact that there are plenty of opportunities everywhere…
 
donguevas said:
On the flip side. Colombian culture is very different. And while my people are the nicest in the world. They are the masters of not following rules figuring they can ask for forgiveness later. Blame it on the church.

So a Colombian getting paid like **** and treated like **** is gonna do something shady because they have no loyalty to the company.

I am the libbiest lib who ever lived, but I would not run a business in Colombia unless I had cameras on people.

I can guarantee they will not be behind a closed door, that kids, and relatives are gonna be running around, loud noises, music, and maybe having a couple of beers.
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donguevas said:
To condense all that word salad above. Colombians speak a Spanish that is understood internationally.

I am not a fan of Teleperformance, because in another post I shared how I consulted with them 20 years ago and left because I did not like something they did but on the flip side they pay double of what the average Colombian earns.
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I truly appreciate your notes on this. Thanks for the posts.
 
scottrngr said:
Hire call center workers in the US, you cheap ba$tard$.
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It’s not about them being cheap. It’s about having localized employees in regions where US employees would sound too foreign to provide the level of customer service that Apple requires from their Apple Care Employees.

Let’s say you are calling Apple Care from Brazil or Mexico, would you rather speak to an American with a heavy American English accent that you can barely understand or a person from your area who knows the stores, the typical turn around time in the region and all of the specific proceedures to get your product serviced.

For exemple here in Canada, most of the calls in English are routed to Apple Care Canada and some will go to the US except for the calls in French. For Quebec Residents there are laws that require all businesses to be in French in order to operate on the territory.

That is the reason why Apple Care in French is provided through a third party company that is trained by Apple specifically for French Speaking Quebec or Canadian residents. So it really isn’t about Apple being cheap but by necessity. Sometimes there are just no other options. Such as laws for data privacy that make it’s illegal for Apple to route the voice calls to the US, competitive laws that preventing big foreign corporation from directly operation in some sectors.
you get the gist.
 
WhatisKevinupTo said:
I cannot speak for other contractors, but as a former trainer of a contractor, we have seen "agents" with children, pets, grown adults playing video games, screwing around, yelling, arguing, or just not being professional. Since the information on the screen is considered private and confidential, and there are people in the room who are creating a unprofessional environment, thus causing many issues. You would be amazed at a persons' "Home office" looks like, or where is it located. When you reach out to the support line, and hear children, or someone being loud, this takes away from a proper Apple experience. Sadly these positions are held by (not all by the way) are not the highest quality, and seldom is at their desk because it's a work at home position, and people have been know to leave for hours at a time. This is their only option as people want to scam the position, and avoid calls. People want a 20.00 per hour job, but act as a 8.00 employee.
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Where are the paying $20 per hour?
 
Unregistered 4U said:
You work for a giant company that deals with sensitive information and the ONLY thing in place to ensure that no one is misusing OR distributing sensitive material is a Manager or Director who may just happen to find out the data has escaped (And, they’re likely not even looking because they’ve got different day-to-day priorities)? Could be true, I guess, but seems like a data breach just waiting to happen. Someone could just get a job, work for a few months, steal some data, leave the company on good terms and sell what they’ve stolen.

Yes, even companies with 20 staff who deal with sensitive customer information either has folks on staff OR has contracted that work out to another company to do it for them. Those that AREN’T handling sensitive customer information would, of course, have much lower requirements.
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Firstly I was not speaking about my company, that is very obvious, and secondly no, your living in a dream world if you truly believe your second comment. That may be the case in your country, but elsewhere we have laws that handle it, no internal secret spy team required to spy on staff of small businesses.
 
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Unregistered 4U said:
Dell is a competitor that is sourcing the same materials from the same companies. Apple can only dictate that the supplying company not use child labor on the materials that are sent to Apple. Apple can’t say that the company ALSO not perform child labor for the materials going to Dell, or Microsoft, or Tiger Electronics.

Apple currently has no need to walk away from Teleperformance because Teleperformance isn’t doing anything. They’ve said they have a plan, but that’s not set. And, I would guess that Apple will do business the same way they’ve done with TSMC, Foxconn, and their rare earth material providers. Dictate how Teleperformance’s employees do work for Apple, and only Apple.
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I don’t think that’s how ethical practice works. Just a hunch.
 
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