Companies in Japan monitor workers via smartphone

JAPAN - What was once a typical scene, a businessman taking an extended rest between client visits at a coffee shop, unbeknown to his superiors, is now becoming increasingly rare.

With applications installed in smartphones, companies can easily track their employees' locations to ensure proper use of company time.

There has even been a lawsuit in which an employee claimed that such surveillance violated the right to privacy.

"I know you were at a convenience store at about 1 p.m. yesterday. Then you went to a family restaurant."

A 28-year-old executive of a management company for self-service gas stations sometimes speaks to his employees in this manner.

In January the Tokyo-based company provided smartphones to all of its 20 employees who regularly visit customers. As each smartphone is installed with an app that transmits its location to a specified terminal using the Global Positioning System, the company can easily find out where each employee is at any given time, often down to the names of buildings.

Many of the company's employees travel directly from home to off-site locations, then return home at day's end without ever having to visit their home office. The company had no choice but to trust the self-filed reports of such employees detailing their work itineraries.

"They initially complained, saying, 'Don't you trust us?' or 'I hate feeling like I'm being monitored by the company.' But I guess they've gotten used to it now," said the executive. The app costs only 1,000 yen a month for each smartphone. "It deters loafing around," the executive said.

A 34-year-old salesperson of a consultancy firm in Tokyo is required to carry a tablet computer with a similar app with him during work hours. He said: "I don't have a problem with it, because I work hard. But is this the life of a salaried worker?"

The app introduced by the gas station management company, marketed in 2002, is now used by about 1,000 companies including equipment maintenance and inspection firms and taxi companies. The app used by the consultancy company has been introduced by about 200 companies, according to the firms that distribute them.

Such information services have been expanding steadily over the years.

NTT Docomo Inc. started its Imadoco search service, which locates a cell phone when its phone number is input, in 2006. Games using GPS information are also gaining in popularity.

The demand for the services started to increase around 2010, when smartphones began spreading rapidly. Market research firm Yano Research Institute predicts the market will expand to 18.1 billion yen in fiscal 2013 from 10.7 billion yen in fiscal 2009.

The proliferation of such services raises the question of the extent to which companies should be allowed to surveil the movements of their employees.

In a lawsuit citing psychological damage filed by a former employee of a construction company who was required to carry a mobile phone that allowed his company to confirm his whereabouts, the Tokyo District Court ruled in May last year that it is legal for his firm to require him to carry the mobile phone during his working hours, but "it cannot be allowed to do so late at night and during his off-duty days." The case has is currently awaiting appeal.