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

[Scotticus]

Is there a reading comprehension challenge? Apple is mentioned in an article and then suddenly Apple is at fault?

It's clearly written (look up) that this isn't Apple implementing this monitoring, but the call centre company. If this is true, I agree that it's an extreme. We also need to look at _why_ companies would be considering this. How many "employees" sleep half of their shift because they are at home and not under supervision? Yet claim a full paycheque? That is theft and we all pay the price. We should be angry about about that, not some fictional "Apple is lying about respecting privacy" scandal.

I love that you think people working at call centers don't already get tracked and graded on a constant basis. There are FAR less invasive ways to ensure your workers aren't sleeping "half of their shift" (which is conjecture at best, on your part) that are already in place.

And just because Apple isn't implementing these measures themselves means literally nothing. Apple's money is going towards these kind of dystopian conditions, making them complicit in it if they choose to continue doing business with this company.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

I work for a giant corporation and we do sensitive work, yet my employer never feels the need to spy on its employees or their families, it actually has an element of trust with us.

Grab some sensitive material from your job, you know, some stuff that’s “for internal use only” and post it to some random forum.

If you do sensitive work, then you’ve got a corporate investigation team who’s job it is to spy on employees so they can take actions when situations like this occur. I’d guess you’d be able to post one, maybe two documents before your boss asks to have an unscheduled meeting with you

 

[mariusignorello]

A good reason why it'd be wonderful for a company like Apple, with their sheer scale, power and thus leverage, to refuse to work with a company engaging in this type of awful practice.

Instead they chose to say: "they don't do it on staff working for us specifically"

Pathetic

Yeah. The problem is it’s industry standard for that type of work. And the type of people that work those jobs tend to resort to tactics like high pressure sales and profanity. My business partner used to oversee a call center for one of the big 4 banks and the overnight crew was something else. Half of the employees had their heads on a pillow on the desk and were working on the computer like that.

Call center jobs, like traveling inventory jobs are aimed at a certain demographic that usually need the job more than the employer needs them. It’s neither right nor wrong because both parties know what they’re getting themselves into.

While these jobs definitely need improvement, I don’t see it happening. The workers come to work in sweats and with a pillow. Let’s start with that I suppose….

 

[MrDerby01]

False. In many parts of the world, employee right to privacy is legally protected. They cannot monitor our email, they are not allowed to have cameras in the office to monitor us. Etc.

we even have the explicit right to handle certain minor private issues (like a quick call to the tax services) on the boss’ time. Doctor / dentist? You get paid time off for that that does not get taken out of your vacation days. (Of which we get 21 by law, and often more by the employer).

that‘s what healthy work/life balance and mutual respect between employer/employee looks like.

At SAP we are even obligated to unblock the network for X-Box for users in Germany. They still also have the right to view adult content at work.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Yeah. The problem is it’s industry standard for that type of work.

Even more reason for Apple to take a stand.
Very few others on the entire planet could help enact change like they could.

We really need to expect a lot more from a company in Apple's position.

Everything seems intractable and impossible to change -- until we start making changes.

 

[Pezimak]

Grab some sensitive material from your job, you know, some stuff that’s “for internal use only” and post it to some random forum.

If you do sensitive work, then you’ve got a corporate investigation team who’s job it is to spy on employees so they can take actions when situations like this occur. I’d guess you’d be able to post one, maybe two documents before your boss asks to have an unscheduled meeting with you

No, I’m in the U.K., the Police handle investigations like this, it’s in contracts you sign that if you breach sensitive data you are liable to prosecution. It’s protection without some sort of corporate hit team of spy’s and investigators you seem to daydream about being required.

 

[bushman4]

Does Apple think that having cameras in people home will increase productivity. Apple can judge by the number of customers and case #’s handled how productive a person is
Seems like this big brother idea is not the way to go

 

[Unregistered 4U]

They had to trust us, as we had keys to the kingdom in many respects. I feel bad for people here that feel there is literally one type of business to work in, it seems you all have hostile work environments and just don't realize there are better places out there.

No, if they had an HR department, they didn’t trust you. Your immediate supervisor may have made you feel like they trusted you, and the company as a whole may have made you feel like you were trusted but HR is there for only ONE reason, to protect a company from it’s employees.

You’re a trustworthy employee and follow all the rules, so you’ve never had to see what happens to employees in those same companies that didn’t follow the rules or try to skirt the rules to their own benefit. But, I can assure you, the processes were in place in any company.

 

[Orionfox]

Okay Apple, at least an electronic ankle bracelet with a 3 foot square perimeter. Or maybe an electric dog collar. This is not the Apple I came to love. Even if this is a sub-contractor Apple is supporting it, but hiring them.View attachment 1816583View attachment 1816584View attachment 1816585

Funny out of the other companies Disney listed in this book, Nike uses cotton that is picked by slaves in China, Disney has had a lot of it's long term employees train their replacements (usually someone imported for 1/2 the cost) or lose any separation package and Apple has all kinda of issues with companies it hires that have immoral business practices (hired so they can say it was them that actually did it).

I find it funny that people think companies can be moral. They will preach and virtual signal it if it generates more revenue, otherwise they don't care.

 

[BlueMoose]

I have a real hard time believe that all the changes are just random.

CEO Tim Cook didn't just wake up one morning and decide to make all these anti-privacy changes. Was a new team put in charge of such matters and decided to make these changes in a secure bunker under Apple headquarters?

Using Apple's logic, any foreign government can demand that Apple comply with their laws. What if Russia demands that Apple monitors its employees and customers for homosexual images?(for example, 2 men or 2 women holding hands or kissing or other stuff) In Russia, it's still very much illegal. Many LGBT activists over there have been under lengthy house arrest, or worse.

Google did away with there "do no evil" policy...

now Apple is doing away with "privacy".... sad day....

 

[TGM85]

False. In many parts of the world, employee right to privacy is legally protected. They cannot monitor our email, they are not allowed to have cameras in the office to monitor us. Etc.

we even have the explicit right to handle certain minor private issues (like a quick call to the tax services) on the boss’ time. Doctor / dentist? You get paid time off for that that does not get taken out of your vacation days. (Of which we get 21 by law, and often more by the employer).

that‘s what healthy work/life balance and mutual respect between employer/employee looks like.

Yes, I might be showing my European roots here, but this whole articles reads like a litany of human rights violations to me.

The people on here supporting this kind of practice and claiming that employers actually have the right to do this kind of thing to their employees, they're out of their minds.

 

[Orionfox]

Does Apple think that having cameras in people home will increase productivity. Apple can judge by the number of customers and case #’s handled how productive a person is
Seems like this big brother idea is not the way to go

Having worked in a call center, the last thing I looked at for my techs productivity was physically watching them. I watched their numbers, like talk time, hold time, after call time (if it wasn't automated).

Worst I had to deal with was when we had actual phones on their desks was people muting until the customer disconnected. Even that could be seen by short talk times and logging into their phone to listen.

 

[averagenerd81]

No, if they had an HR department, they didn’t trust you. Your immediate supervisor may have made you feel like they trusted you, and the company as a whole may have made you feel like you were trusted but HR is there for only ONE reason, to protect a company from it’s employees.

You’re a trustworthy employee and follow all the rules, so you’ve never had to see what happens to employees in those same companies that didn’t follow the rules or try to skirt the rules to their own benefit. But, I can assure you, the processes were in place in any company.

And again you still don't seem to understand trust. A company who cannot trust an employee will not hire or retain such an employee. HR has nothing to do with trust, it is there for enforcement.

You can continue and try to argue this, but trust is a very real requirement in many companies. HR is for enforcement if that trust is broken. I do really feel bad for you as you seem to lack a complete understanding of what trust is.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

No, I’m in the U.K., the Police handle investigations like this, it’s in contracts you sign that if you breach sensitive data you are liable to prosecution. It’s protection without some sort of corporate hit team of spy’s and investigators you seem to daydream about being required.

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?

 

[bcomer]

Another REALLY bad idea.

 

[Techwatcher]

Hopefully people understand now. In just a week alone look at how Apple is flipping privacy on it's head with iCloud Photos and now even privacy for its own workers. It's their home. Apple has no right to have some permanently installed camera. It always starts small.

Apple needs to learn just because you "can" do something [due to technological advances] does not mean you should do it. Might as well just go back into work and not even work from home.

 

[6787872]

give biometric data, including fingerprints, and even take polygraph tests.

all this for a call center job for apple

 

[Maconplasma]

Hopefully people understand now. In just a week alone look at how Apple is flipping privacy on it's head with iCloud Photos and now even privacy for its own workers. It's their home. Apple has no right to have some permanently installed camera. It always starts small.

Apple needs to learn just because you "can" do something [due to technological advances] does not mean you should do it. Might as well just go back into work and not even work from home.

Except some still don't understand because they didn't read the article. You being one of them.

 

[2540497]

If they don’t want a camera in their bedroom they can either work from the kitchen or better yet go into the office.

 

[gregmancuso]

Did you miss the part:

One worker based in Bogota, who works on the Apple account, told NBC News:

Works on the Apple account. Not works for Apple. This is the supplier wanting to do this with their workforce. Apple's spokesman says they don't allow this. The real issue would be IF the supplier goes through with this AND Apple keeps them as a supplier.

 

[I7guy]

Right?!! There was an article last week or so about some other Apple supply-chain contractor who was alleged to be treating employees like slaves and Apple said "We inspect regularly and didn't find any problems!". What a joke. When you, the richest company around, pays a 3rd world country a couple bucks an hour per worker, what do you expect?

What joke? The joke is Apple doesn't own any manufacturing facilities and there doesn't pay anyone of the suppliers' employees directly who produce components.

 

[grandM]

This is a disgrace. Feels like slavery, tastes likes slavery, looks like slavery. Must be .........

 

[gregmancuso]

If Apple actually is against this, they'll tell this company to stop doing this for ANY customers (not just Apple) and use their massive leverage to make it not happen, period.

Just saying "they don't use it when working for us" (but knowing full well they do it for agents working for other clients) is crap from Apple.

Not disagreeing. If the company actually does do this and Apple does not drop them then there is something to bitch at Apple about. All that we know from this article is that one of Apple's suppliers if planning to monitoring. Who else contracts with this firm? Is anyone else commenting that they do not allow this from their suppliers.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

And again you still don't seem to understand trust. A company who cannot trust an employee will not hire or retain such an employee. HR has nothing to do with trust, it is there for enforcement.

No, I understand trust via the definition “acceptance without evidence or investigation”. And there’s no company that, from day 1, accepts without evidence. I mean, they don’t even accept, without evidence, that the ID number you provide to get hired. They photocopy the ID and check it against systems to verify.

BUT, I understand you’re not talking about trust the noun, but trust the verb meaning have faith or confidence in. And, any company that doesn’t have faith or confidence in an employee WILL let them go. And, they will retain the ones they DO have faith and confidence in. That doesn’t change the fact, though, that a company continues to require evidence for many things employees, even the ones they have faith in, do.

 

[Regbial]

Human beings becoming commodities.. Hey it's ok if it's in a poor/developing country amirite guys!? As long as it's not in shiny America, "land of the free"... Hey... Don't you enjoy your shiny new iPhone you buy every year??!! Surely no one was dehumanized for it, nope!

/s

This is sick.