Serco Leisure ordered to halt facial recognition monitoring of staff

The UK's data protection watchdog has mandated Serco Leisure to cease its biometric data processing of employees, citing privacy concerns and a lack of necessity for such invasive measures.

• The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) found Serco Leisure unlawfully processing over 2,000 employees' biometric data across 38 UK facilities.
• Serco's use of facial recognition and fingerprint scanning for staff attendance monitoring was deemed 'neither fair nor proportionate' by the ICO.
• The ICO criticized Serco for not considering less intrusive attendance monitoring methods, such as ID cards or fobs.
• Serco Leisure argued the technology was introduced to simplify clocking-in processes and was well-received by staff, despite the ICO's enforcement notice.
• The ICO is publishing new guidance on biometric data usage, emphasizing the need for compliance with data protection laws.

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