GPS and workers: what is fair tracking, and what is excessive surveillance

A GPS stamp at clock-in: the moment the worker presses "clock in", the system records the time and location. One point, one moment, tied to an action the worker themselves initiated. That is proof "I was here at 7:02" — the equivalent of signing the book at the gate.

Continuous tracking: an app that logs movement in the background all day — where the person goes, where they stop, which route they take. That is no longer time tracking, that is surveillance of a person.

The first is normal, widely accepted practice. The second is legally slippery ground, rightly repellent to workers, and — as is often forgotten — commercially useless: thousands of GPS points a day say nothing an owner needs, while poisoning the atmosphere in the company.

An employee's location data is personal data, and the employer needs a basis and restraint to process it. The key principle is proportionality: you may collect as much as is necessary for a legitimate purpose — and the purpose "verify the worker was at the workplace" is legitimate and covered by ONE point at clock-in, not by all-day tracking.

The duty to inform: workers must know what is recorded, when and why — clearly and in advance, best as a short written notice with the contract or company policy.

Continuous tracking during working hours is allowed in most European jurisdictions only exceptionally (e.g. a vehicle fleet with justified cause, and even then under special rules) — and tracking outside working hours practically never. For time tracking you don't need such tracking, so good systems don't even have it built in.

Location is recorded exclusively at the moment of clocking in and out — an action the worker initiates themselves, on their own screen, with a clearly visible message that location is being attached.

The system compares that point with the site's registered location: if the clock-in is further than, say, 300 metres — the entry gets an "off location" flag that the boss can see. A flag, not a block: maybe the car park is far away, maybe GPS is weak inside the hall. The system signals, a human judges.

For sites where GPS doesn't work (basements, halls), the fair alternative is a QR tag: a printed code on site that the worker scans at clock-in — proof of presence without any phone location at all.

And most importantly: the worker can always see their own entries. Transparency in both directions is what makes tracking accepted.

"The system records where you are ONLY when you press clock-in and clock-out — so that nobody can ever dispute that you were at work. It doesn't follow you through the day, doesn't see where you are on your break, does nothing until you press it."

That one sentence, spoken openly before rollout, resolves 90% of the resistance. And since with an honest system it is also technically true, trust isn't lost later either.

It also helps workers to hear what they get: their hours and overtime are recorded and protected from being forgotten, and their clock-in is proof in THEIR favour as much as the boss's.

GPS in time tracking is like a stamp on a document: confirmation of a moment, not a film about a person. A company that records a point at clock-in, informs its workers and shows them their data — acts both lawfully and fairly, and gets accurate records without poisoning relationships in the crew.

Our time-tracking system is built exactly that way: a GPS stamp only at clock-in/out, a QR alternative for sites without signal, a flag instead of a block, and full transparency towards the worker. If you want tracking that protects both the company and the people, see how it works.