PRINCE ALBERT, Saskatchewan, May 10 (UPI) -- Lawmakers in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, have proposed putting GPS technology into cellphones and vehicles to track city workers.
The proposal, scheduled to be debated Monday by the Prince Albert City Council, would see Global Positioning System technology put in city employees' cellphones and some vehicles used for work, CBC News reported.
Data would be collected and tracked at City Hall.
"I'm in favor of it," council member Rick Orr told CBC News Thursday. "I think the employees will be, too, once they learn it's not Big Brother watching them."
Orr said the proposal may help quell complaints from citizens who say city workers are inefficient.
"We've got a lot of criticism from the public that our employees aren't efficient," Orr said. "We don't think that's true. I think what we're going to find is that our foreman and our supervisors are going to be able to track their people better and figure out how to make things more efficient."
Meanwhile, Saskatchewan Privacy Commissioner Gary Dickson says employers need to have a valid reason for tracking employees.
"It's one thing if you have evidence someone is stealing from the company," Dickson said. "But a system that does general surveillance without there being some particular misconduct that's being investigated is usually seen as excessive."
