Company Uses Smart Seat Cushions For Staff Monitoring

A tech company has been under fire for using smart cushions for secretly monitoring its office staff.

An employee of Hebo Technology, a Zhejiang-based high-tech company, recently exposed on social media her company’s practice that he found to be immoral and illegal. According to the woman, known as Wang, she along with nine other staff had been monitored for the last few months via seat cushions. The company actually gave them smart cushions as a gift and said that they would help them stay healthy. However, the cushions turn out to be used for a more sinister purpose.

Wang said that at first, she and her colleagues were pleased with the company’s gift as they offered everything, from sitting posture to heart rate and breathing rate. They even received reminders, saying they should get up or stretch.

One day, after running into an HR manager, Wang was asked why she wasn’t at her desk from 10 am to 10.30 am the previous day. The manager even joked that if this persisted, Wang’s monthly bonus would be cut. The woman then realized that the only way the manager could have known this was through the smart seat cushions.

Her post went viral on the internet. After receiving massive negative feedback, the company had to release a statement addressing the matter. A spokesperson admitted that the company indeed gifted their employees the smart seat cushions but did not admit that these gifts were used as a monitoring tool.

21 Century Business Herald, a Chinese publication, then launched an investigation into this matter. And apparently, the company had sent the employees consent forms for data collecting. However, the forms were in English instead of Chinese. The publication’s lawyer stated that by doing this, Hebo Technology had violated privacy laws.

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