Digital Surveillance: Potential Effects on Workers and Roles of Federal Agencies
Fast Facts
Employers monitor workers for many reasons such as tracking their safety or productivity. This Q&A examines digital surveillance’s effects on workers. It’s our second on this topic.
Digital surveillance can positively and negatively affect workers’ physical and mental health. For example, it can alert them to potential health problems and increase their sense of safety. But it can also increase their anxiety or risk of injury by pushing them to move faster to meet productivity targets.
Digital surveillance imagery over a photo of a person raising their hand and looking at a laptop
Highlights
What GAO Found
Digital surveillance tools can provide employers with information to help improve their operations and may have positive and negative effects on workers. Sometimes referred to as "bossware," these tools include cameras, microphones, computer monitoring software, geolocation trackers, phone applications, and devices worn by workers, among other tools.
GAO's work is based on interviews with stakeholders from 11 organizations: two trade associations, three advocacy organizations, and six research organizations. It is also based on a review of 122 studies that met GAO's standards for methodological quality.
According to stakeholders GAO interviewed and studies GAO reviewed, digital surveillance can have the following effects on workers:
- Physical health and safety. Digital surveillance can both positively and negatively affect workers' physical health and safety. For example, some digital surveillance tools can identify cardiac issues, an indication of potential heart disease. Conversely, they can increase workers' risk of injuries by pushing them to move faster to meet productivity metrics.
- Mental health. Digital surveillance can both positively and negatively affect workers' mental health. Positive effects can include increasing workers' sense of safety. Negative effects can include increased stress and anxiety. These effects can depend on employers' practices, including how transparent they are about what information they collect.
- Employment opportunities. The design or incorrect use of some digital surveillance tools could limit their ability to accurately assess performance. For example, digital surveillance tools may use flawed productivity benchmarks, may not account for the full range of worker tasks and responsibilities, or may be used by the employer for unintended purposes. These types of limitations could make some workers more prone to experiencing negative effects on employment opportunities such as low performance evaluations, lower pay, disciplinary actions, or termination.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), and the Department of Labor's (DOL) Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigate claims that could involve digital surveillance. Several federal agencies have also previously provided guidance or resources to employers about the use of digital surveillance, but in 2025 these agencies have either rescinded these prior efforts or are reassessing their alignment with the current administration's priorities.
Why GAO Did This Study
Employer surveillance of workers has become more widespread as the number of people working remotely has increased and the types of surveillance technologies available have expanded. Employers monitor workers for a variety of reasons, such as tracking their performance, productivity, and health and safety.
Some worker advocates have expressed concern about the effects of digital surveillance on workers. GAO was asked to examine the potential effects of digital surveillance on workers' physical health and safety, mental health, and employment opportunities, as well as federal agencies' oversight of employers' use of this technology. This report provides information on these topics and follows a report GAO issued in 2024 that summarized public comments submitted to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) about employers' use of automated digital surveillance tools to monitor workers and the effects of such surveillance on workers (GAO-24-107639).
GAO identified stakeholders to interview based on their published research or advocacy in this area, and the recommendations of other experts.
GAO identified and reviewed 122 studies about the effects of digital surveillance on workers' physical health and safety, mental health, and employment opportunities. All studies were published from 2020 through 2024 and were assessed by GAO for methodological rigor. While the studies were subject to certain limitations that could potentially affect their findings, GAO deemed them sufficiently robust for inclusion in this review. GAO also reviewed relevant laws, regulations, and agency information.
GAO interviewed knowledgeable officials from the DOL, EEOC, NLRB, OSTP, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and requested updated information from them in spring of 2025.
For more information, contact Thomas Costa at costat@gao.gov.