Employee Monitoring: An Indian Data Protection Perspective

Employers inevitably process large amounts of personal and sensitive information about employees. While most data are collected for standard business purposes, such as payroll and the provision of insurance, the pandemic has seen a rise in the use by employers of sophisticated technology. Whether for recruitment, operational efficiency or tracking, such technology raises concerns over privacy. Enforcement of employment-related data protection and privacy regulation has been low level. This, coupled with unchecked data collection and behaviour monitoring, has resulted in a power imbalance between employers and employees.

The Information Technology (Reasonable Security Practices and Procedures and Sensitive Personal Data or Information) Rules, 2011 ("SPDI Rules"), issued under the Information Technology Act, 2000, govern data protection and related issues. Companies must ensure that consent has been sought for the collection, disclosure, and transfer of sensitive