Sec. 5(4)(a)-(c)
Plain Language
Employers are categorically prohibited from collecting certain types of data through electronic monitoring or automated decision tools, even when used for a permitted purpose. Prohibited data includes all health and medical information, any qualified characteristic (race, sex, disability, etc.), and an exhaustive list of workplace activity data covering HR files, productivity metrics, workplace communications, device usage, geolocation, audio-video sensor data including biometrics, AI tool inputs/outputs linked to individuals, and online identifiers. Employers also may not use these tools to identify or punish protected labor activity, and may not monitor bathrooms, breakrooms, prayer areas, breast-milk expression areas, or other private spaces — including employees' homes, personal vehicles, or owned property. The workplace-activity data prohibition in (a)(iii) is remarkably broad and would appear to prohibit much of the data that even the permitted application-screening use in Sec. 4(2) would ordinarily require.
Statutory Text
(4) An employer that uses an electronic monitoring tool for a purpose described in subsection (2) or an automated decisions tool for a purpose described in section 4(2) shall not do any of the following: (a) Collect any of the following data of a covered individual: (i) Health, medical, lifestyle, and wellness information, including, but not limited to, the covered individual's medical history, physical or mental condition, diet or physical activity patterns, heart rate, medical treatment or diagnosis by a health care professional, health insurance policy number, subscriber identification number, or other unique identifier used to identify the covered individual. (ii) A qualified characteristic. (iii) Information related to workplace activities, including, but not limited, all of the following: (A) Human resources information, including contents of a covered individual's personnel file or performance evaluations. (B) Work process information, such as productivity and efficiency information. (C) Information that captures workplace communications and interactions, including emails, texts, internal message boards, and customer interaction and ratings. (D) Device usage, including calls placed or geolocation information. (E) Audio-video information and other information collected from sensors, including movement tracking, thermal sensors, voiceprints, or facial, emotion, and gait recognition. (F) Inputs of or outputs generated by an automated decisions tool that are linked to a covered individual. (G) Online information, including a covered individual's internet protocol address, private social media activity, or other digital sources or unique identifiers associated with a covered individual. (b) Identify, punish, or obtain data about a covered individual who engages in an activity that is protected under state or federal labor or employment law. (c) Monitor bathrooms or other similar private areas, including, but not limited to, locker rooms, changing areas, breakrooms, smoking areas, employee cafeterias, lounges, areas designated to express breast milk, or areas designated for prayer or other religious activity. The prohibition under this subdivision includes data collection on the frequency of use of those private areas and conducting audio or visual monitoring of a workplace in an employee's residence, an employee's personal vehicle, or property owned or leased by an employee.