Top 10 Privacy Questions About Workplace Wearable Technologies
… and The MākuSafe Approach
At MākuSafe, we engage daily with organizations of all sizes, including multinational enterprises and some of the world’s most influential brands. Through these conversations, we’ve gained invaluable insights into the unique data privacy concerns and requirements that companies face when adopting wearable technologies in the workplace. This experience has shaped our approach, enabling us to design a solution that prioritizes worker privacy while delivering powerful safety insights.
Addressing Privacy Concerns with Confidence:
Our commitment to protecting worker privacy is at the core of everything we do. MākuSafe wearable technology is engineered to collect only the data needed to understand safety risks and workplace hazards—never personal, biometric, or health information. We believe safety data should empower leaders to take accountability for creating safer environments, not be used to monitor or discipline employees. By focusing on these principles, we’ve built trust with global brands and their teams, ensuring our technology aligns with their privacy standards and ethical commitments.
1. Does the device track individual workers’ movements or location continuously?
The MākuSafe Approach: No. MākuSafe devices do not continuously track workers’ movements or locations. Instead, they capture the location of occurrence indicators, such as high noise levels or trip hazards, to help identify areas of risk within the facility. This ensures privacy while enabling safety leaders to address hazards.
2. Does the technology collect personally identifiable information (PII) or biometric data?
The MākuSafe Approach: No. MākuSafe does not collect PII or biometric data. The system is designed to focus on environmental and physical risk factors, not individual worker attributes.
3. Does the device collect any health-related data covered by HIPAA?
The MākuSafe Approach: No. MākuSafe devices do not collect health data that falls under HIPAA. The data collected is related to environmental conditions and worker physicality, such as exertion, to identify and mitigate workplace hazards.
4. Will alerts disrupt workers or cause fatigue?
The MākuSafe Approach: No. MākuSafe devices do not deliver haptic, auditory, or visual alerts to workers. This approach prevents alert fatigue, ensures the device is not a nuisance, and avoids desensitization to potential risks.
5. Can the data be used to discipline or hold workers accountable?
The MākuSafe Approach: No. The data collected by MākuSafe is not intended for disciplinary action against workers. It is used to understand safety risks and hazards, empowering organizations and leaders to take accountability for creating safer work environments.
6. What happens if a worker experiences an unsafe condition? How is their location recorded?
The MākuSafe Approach: If an unsafe condition is detected, the device records the general location where the event occurred (e.g., high noise or a near-miss). This information helps safety leaders target mitigation efforts, without tracking the specific movements of individual workers.
7. How is the data secured and who has access to it?
The MākuSafe Approach: Data collected by MākuSafe is securely stored and accessible only to authorized personnel within the organization. It is managed according to strict data security protocols to ensure worker privacy.
8. Does the wearable monitor or analyze personal physiological data, such as heart rate or body temperature?
The MākuSafe Approach: No. MākuSafe devices focus on environmental and ergonomic risk factors, such as heat exposure or physical exertion, rather than physiological data.
9. How can the organization ensure the data is used ethically?
The MākuSafe Approach: MākuSafe emphasizes using data for hazard identification and risk reduction, not for monitoring or penalizing workers. The platform empowers organizations to uphold safety responsibilities ethically and transparently.
10. How can workers trust that their privacy is respected?
The MākuSafe Approach: MākuSafe ensures transparency by clearly communicating that no PII, biometric data, or health information is collected. The focus is on creating a safer workplace for everyone, not monitoring individuals. Workers are informed about the purpose of the device and how the data is used to improve safety.