Google launches app to track employees

By Oh Ro-sy

Search engine Google has launched an application that lets employers track workers’ movements in real time, said its blog post Monday.

The new app, called Google Maps Coordinate, marks where the employees are on the map every five seconds, using the GPS tracking function which is built into smartphones or tablet PCs. So, the bosses can check movements of their employees in detail during office hours. The app also allows them to instruct their workers what to do and to report how much they have done.

The service is available at $15 per person a month.

“The service aims to help communicate between employers and employees,” Google’s spokesman said. “It also helps the company efficiently to assign jobs to field workers such as delivery persons and electricians.”

However, there are some negative points of view. Among comments are “it doesn’t make sense to track workers’ location every five seconds. They’re not slaves,” and “the app allows the company to know every move, such as which restaurant they go to and when they go to the restroom.”

However, Google has emphasized that the app only works when employees have it installed on their smartphone and have it running in visible mode. Users also can set a time to utilize it or turn it off at any time. But, there may be few brave employees to reject their company’s request to track their every move.

Domestic businesses can employ the app immediately as the service has been released throughout the world.