There has been a lot of publicity recently around Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the world wide web and his decentralised web project called Solid, which pushes for individuals, not firms, to control their data. As concern rises over what our information is being used for outside the workplace, should we be as concerned about how our employer is using data it holds about us. You would think post GDPR that protection around our own data in the workplace and our rights to see what is being held is enough. But what if the data captured is more than what is held in the HR system?
Organisational Network Analysis (ONA) is seen as an exciting new advancement in HR Technology. ONA is technology that captures information from multiple sources such as emails, workflow and collaboration tools. From the information captured, it can determine many different attributes about you, which you may not be aware of. For example, your emails could be analysed to detect your mood or how you communicate with others, information requests or approvals may detect a lack of responsiveness or your use of email during meetings could detect a lack of attentiveness. If ONA is used to build a profile on you, what will the employer do with this information and will you have the right to access it in the same way GDPR permits. The Solid Project will allow individuals to control their data, however there is no control available in the case of ONA. Will employees start to rebel against this type of big brother analysis and what impact will this have on employee trust. A key take-away is before embarking on ONA, organisations will need to carefully consider the impact and outcomes from using this type of intelligence v’s the benefits.