GPS as an employee surveillance tool

Islip, NY has been using GPS as an employee surveillance tool and it is sparking an interesting controversy. They installed GPS trackers on government vehicles as a way of monitoring how the vehicles were used. Ostensibly, many employers use tracking as a means for monitoring fuel usage and identifying more efficient alternatives.

Barton said Delaware paid $425 per unit for the GPS devices, as well as $24.99 a month per vehicle for tracking services. Information from each car is sent back to a central location, where things like fuel consumption and speed are recorded. He estimated the investment will be recouped in 3 1/2 years.

"If we're getting fuel reduction, less accidents and have our people slowing down, it more than pays for itself," Barton said.

But others worry about this as an intrusive tool that has the potential to violate the privacy of employees.

The use of GPS has led to firings, stoking complaints from employees and unions that the devices are intrusive, Big Brother technology. But city officials say that monitoring employees' movements has deterred abuses, saving the taxpayers money in gasoline and lost productivity.

In 3 months Islip saved 14,000 gallons of gas. Does it matter if it was because of more efficient routing or because employees stopped using public vehicles for driving to Michigan?