Barclays employee 'spyware' trial halted after backlash

The introduction of software that monitored Barclays' employee activity and performance met with a backlash and resulted in the bank halting its trial. 

A whistleblower revealed to CityAm that the Sapience Analytics software monitored how long staff stayed at and how effective they are at their desks, told them to 'avoid breaks' and recorded toilet trips as 'unaccounted activity.' 

The whistleblower alleged that automated warnings had also been sent to employees judged to be away from their computers for too long, or if they had been spending too long on a particular task, and that the 'spyware' monitoring had resulted in loss of dignity, additional stress and sparked a backlash over what was seen as excessive and unwarranted surveillance, and an invasion of privacy.

Barclays had responded that it had been using the software 'to tackle issues such as individual over-working as well as raise general productivity.'