Workplace monitoring is no longer just CCTV
A 2025 survey cited by the UK Government found that one in three organisations monitored employees’ digital activity, up from one in five in 2023. Monitoring can now include screen capture, keystrokes, location tracking, biometrics and AI systems that influence shifts, pay, discipline or dismissal.
Today, we are publishing Workplace Monitoring Technologies, the second report from ERG’s UK Legal Research Branch.
Prepared for the Government’s live consultation, the 38-page report examines how employers can use monitoring responsibly without leaving workers powerless when technology gets things wrong.
We do not argue for a blanket ban. Monitoring can protect people, premises and information. But where it is intrusive or capable of shaping someone’s livelihood, employers should explain why it is needed, how it was tested, who was consulted and how mistakes can be challenged.
ERG recommends a statutory workplace monitoring code, practical guidance for different technologies and sectors, and a targeted duty to consult before higher-risk systems are procured, introduced or materially changed.
As a student-led Scottish charity, this is exactly what ERG exists to do: give students real responsibility, support serious work and help it reach beyond the classroom.
Victoria Dimitrova, Eman Siddiqui and Dayaan Khokhar led the three research pods. They worked alongside Freya Irvine, Jhanvi Thakur, Stafos Galabov, Annagayle Mosemann, Filipe Ventura, Viktoriia Volkova and Hridaya Marghade.
Jadyn Pitt, Elphinstone Research Group's Legal Director and Trustee, developed and coordinated the project and completed the final edit.
The consultation remains open until 30 September 2026.
Read the full report at:
We would be glad to hear from universities, student societies, researchers and organisations interested in sharing our work or collaborating with ERG.
Independent educational research. Not legal advice.
Elphinstone Research Group | Scottish Registered Charity No. SC054318
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