The Datafication of Work: Data Ethics and the Health Sector

In this Open Access video, Dr Claudia Pagliari explores some of the ways in which data about work and workers are being harvested and utilised by organisations, and the dilemmas these new forms of datafication present for employees' privacy, rights, choices and futures. Paying particular attention to the health sector, she examines the potential of human resource information systems to improve organisational efficiencies and prevent problems like fraud or cross-infection. Next, she describes how these systems are gradually being supplemented by personal data from emails, social media, apps, wearables and even implants, and used for so-called 'people analytics', involving new forms of digital profiling and prediction. Alongside this, she considers the growth of so-called digital wellness programmes, and the importance of ensuring that the use of these technologies is transparent and the benefits fairly shared between employers and workers themselves.