Perceptions of Using Tracking and Tracing Systems in Work Environments.

Tracking and tracing of objects have found widespread application in industry and logistics for the last decade. Profound information about the position and the status of an object allows better planning and scheduling, thus leads to more flexible processes, stock reductions and even new business models become possible. The implementation of tracking and tracing systems (TATS) precisely enables also electronic monitoring of employee performance and behavior. Therefore, this study analyzes perceptions of TATS in working environments and differentiates between the tracking of objects (AT) and the tracking of employees (EM). Our findings based on 19 qualitative interviews reveals that privacy issues predominantly emerge in the context of EM, but not so much with regard to AT. In the context of EM, we identify an imonitoring-privacy dilemma which can be solved when taking in account the acceptance factors (i.e., transparency, trust, communication, data storage, health aspect, and safety perception). Furthermore, experience seems to attenuate the perceived risks when implementing TATS.