Woman gets fired after uninstalling an app that tracked her 24/7

[Bouzoo]

I'm sorry but what? Have we finally come to a time when we have to be monitored 24/7 for our job? I don't know what to say.

 

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’s GPS function during work hours, but she objected to the monitoring of her location during non-work hours," says the filing. "She likened the app to a prisoner’s ankle bracelet and informed Stubits that his actions were illegal. Stubits replied that she should tolerate the illegal intrusion because Intermix was paying [her more than her previous employer].

 

And she shouldn't complain because they were paying her more? Well **** ***. I really hope she wins.

The app at talk is Xora StreetSmart

 

 

 

 

Edit: Few things added from more sources
 

Arias's lawyer, Gail Glick, told me: "Intermex's justification for firing Ms. Arias was that her boss claimed that he and Intermex had just found out that she was working for another company at the same time she worked in sales for Intermex. Ms. Arias asserts that this is false."

 

We will see if this is true.

 

This is what her lawyer said:

 

The app had a "clock in/out" feature which did not stop GPS monitoring, that function remained on. This is the problem about which Ms. Arias complained. Management never made mention of mileage. They would tell her co-workers and her of their driving speed, roads taken, and time spent at customer locations. Her manager made it clear that he was using the program to continuously monitor her, during company as well as personal time.

Arias' boss "scolded" her for uninstalling the app shortly after being required to use it, according to the suit. Her attorneys said the woman made $7,250 per month and that she "met all quotas" during a brief stint with Intermex last year.

 

 

If she is telling the truth she might not win the case that easily:

 

The idea of mandatory constant surveillance as a requisite for gainful employment is objectively creepy. Getting your whereabouts digitally tracked 24/7 by employers keen on humiliating you for your after-hours choices couldn’t sound like more of a plot point from a capitalist horror dystopia movie if Katniss farted it on a Kindle. But when employer property rights clash with employee privacy rights, it usually ends pretty well for bosses. “My property, my tracking rules,” tends to beat out reasonable expectations of privacy. That said, California has stronger regulations on phone tracking than most states, so that may work in Arias’ favor.

 

Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) introduced a bill last year called the Location Privacy Protection Act of 2014, and one of the stipulations would require companies to inform employees about how they monitor them. However, the bill didn’t get past a Senate hearing, and there’s no federal law here that will make this a slam-drunk case. We’ll have to wait and see.

 

 

Sources: 1, 2, 3 and 4

Edited May 13, 2015 by Bouzoo

[BWSSoldya]

I think your avatar pretty much dictates the perfect response, so besides telling you that, I'm afraid I don't have anything else useful to say

[terrytek]

Bull crap. The company shouldn't be watching her, that's indirectly stalking her. Holy shit, do they not know stalking is a criminal offense?

[TheMidnightNarwhal]

I'm sorry but what? Have we finally come to a time when we have to be monitored 24/7 for our job? I don't know what to say.

 

 

Well it depends on the job... some jobs should monitor you 24/7 really.

[WereCat]

Thats really wrong.

[Bouzoo]

Well it depends on the job... some jobs should monitor you 24/7 really.

 

Even though I partially agree with you, I'm still against it. Everyone should have a right on privacy.

[Delusional Phil]

Call the police ... We've got a stalker ... 

[TheMidnightNarwhal]

Even though I partially agree with you, I'm still against it. Everyone should have a right on privacy.

 

But safety is more important than privacy.

[michaelk12]

But safety is more important than privacy.

I completely agree!!! Better to have a safe tyranny than a dangerous freedom!

[terrytek]

But safety is more important than privacy.

But if someone's privacy was compromised, she isn't safe, is she?

[Wano97]

If this was part of her contract, monitoring her is okay (Which is probably the reason she got fired aswell). It indeed depends on her job aswell.

[TheMidnightNarwhal]

But if someone's privacy was compromised, she isn't safe, is she?

 

Yes but it won't be compromised....

[Bouzoo]

If this was part of her contract, monitoring her is okay (Which is probably the reason she got fired aswell). It indeed depends on her job aswell.

 

Her boss said that she should tolerate the illegal intrusion, so not in her contract.

[terrytek]

Yes but it won't be compromised....

I know but if her privacy was compromised at some point in her life, would it be safe?

[Wano97]

Her boss said that she should tolerate the illegal intrusion, so not in her contract.

I didn't bother to read it, so didn't know that. 

[Yoinkerman]

Well it depends on the job... some jobs should monitor you 24/7 really.

Name three

[Trik'Stari]

The sad thing is, she will likely lose this fight. I don't know how labor laws are set up in California, but I know in quite a lot of states, employment is "at will", meaning you or your employer can terminate your employment at any time for any reason that does not violate federal labor laws (can't be fired for: being ethnic, female, etc.). This also means that if you take a job, you consent to whatever conditions (that do not violate federal laws) the employer decides upon.

 

Personally, I hope she wins, and takes that company for everything its worth. I would love to see all of her former colleagues quit and boycott the company over this kind of intrusion. I know If I had a boss come to me and say "install this on your phone so I can see what you are doing at any given moment" I'd say "No" and if he got pissy, I'd say "okay, where's the app that lets me track everything YOU do at any given moment?" and then either quite, or send him on his way depending upon his response.

 

Addendum: Oh wow, it wasn't in the contract?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tw_VRQYzMYM

 

What moron in upper management didn't think to check with legal before doing this?

[TheMidnightNarwhal]

Name three

 

1. The guys that transfer money in armored trucks. 

2. Pilots

3. Truck drivers 

[LAwLz]

I don't think your boss should be allowed to monitor you when you're not working. I hope she wins and sets an example for other control freaks.

1. The guys that transfer money in armored trucks. 

2. Pilots

3. Truck drivers

I don't see why any of those should be monitored 24/7. Sure they should be monitored during work hours but not when they aren't at work. That's the whole deal here. This woman was being tracked by her boss even during days and hours she wasn't working.

[TheMidnightNarwhal]

I know but if her privacy was compromised at some point in her life, would it be safe?

 

Well, it could like. If the bad guys know where you are but the good guys also know where you are, it equals out really. So I will have to say no.

[Bouzoo]

1. The guys that transfer money in armored trucks. 

2. Pilots

3. Truck drivers 

 

That's why vehicles have GPS

[alicskysareblue]

he went way too far information securit is one thing but this is pretty much stalking.

I also hope she wins

[TheMidnightNarwhal]

That's why vehicles have GPS

 

Yeah, tracking.

[Bouzoo]

Yeah, tracking.

 

They are tracking vehicles that they own so one doesn't go somewhere with them he doesn't need to be (let's say the other side of the city when he has a delivery so he can meet a friend during his working hours). I've worked in delivery and we had GPS installed and that is fine by me. Installing an app on someones phone and illegally tracking their movement while they are not working is a different issue.

[NateGSR117]

They shouldn't know where she is period when she not working. It is a clear violation of her right to privacy in her own home. If your that worried have a tracker in the car, package, or whatever it is not the person phone. Should be more worried about the product location not the person. I hope she wins this and help other ppl in the same situation.