The US Government Accountability Office (GAO) received 211 comments from workers, employers, and advocacy groups regarding the increasing use of automated digital surveillance tools in the workplace, according to a report finalized in February 2024.
The surge in workplace monitoring technologies, initially accelerated by the shift to remote work during the pandemic, has continued to expand, encompassing a range of tools from keystroke logging and periodic screenshot capture to software enabling full remote access to employee systems. Mark, an IT professional working for a US industrial firm, described experiencing this shift firsthand. He stated that, following the company’s transition to remote work, his team was required to provide their manager with a password granting constant remote access, a practice he found deeply stressful and contributing to burnout. “It was just stressful, feeling that I had to be actively using the computer at all times for fear of him thinking something like a phone call or bathroom break was me slacking off,” he said.
The proliferation of these “bossware” tools, as they are increasingly called, is not limited to monitoring computer activity. Some programs record calls and meetings, and even access employee webcams. A 2022 estimate suggested the number of large firms monitoring workers had doubled since the beginning of the pandemic. The New York Times reported on March 1, 2026, that the technologies used to surveil workers have become more sophisticated and widespread in recent years.
However, the implementation of such surveillance is not without its drawbacks. The BBC reported in January 2023 that increasing numbers of companies are finding that worker surveillance is often doing more harm than good. The GAO report reflects this concern, summarizing comments that suggest these tools can undermine human dignity and human rights. Stakeholders also raised concerns about the fundamentally erroneous assumptions upon which many of these systems are built.
A growing number of these surveillance tools are powered by artificial intelligence (AI), enabling algorithmic worker surveillance and productivity scoring. These tools are being applied across a wide range of jobs, including both white and blue-collar positions, as well as within the gig economy. Merve Hickok, an AI ethicist, noted in a policy primer published in March 2023 that, in the absence of legal protections and strong collective action, workers are in an imbalanced power position to challenge the practices of employers utilizing these technologies.
The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy requested information regarding the use of these automated digital surveillance tools in May and June of 2023, prompting the public comments summarized in the GAO report. As of March 1, 2026, the White House has not released a formal response to the report’s findings.
