PwC readies facial recognition to monitor traders at home

The tool is intended to reduce the risk of insider dealing but risks sparking a backlash over privacy concerns

Big Four accountant PwC is preparing to roll out a facial recognition tool that will allow clients to track employees’ absences from their computer screens while they work from home. 

The facial recognition system is designed for firms where staff such as traders who are normally closely monitored when they are in the office but risks triggering privacy concerns from staff and campaign groups. 

It will use employees’ webcams to log absences from their desks and force them to give a written explanation for time spent away from their computer screens. 

PwC is in talks with four investment banks and an asset manager over the use of several tools, including facial recognition technology, to boost compliance with strict City rules while employees work from home, Financial News reported. 

Working from home has presented a headache for financial services firms that face strict compliance rules to prevent market abuse. 

Firms have struggled to replicate controls normally used on trading floors, where staff must swipe in and out, only authorised personnel can enter, and personal mobile phones or other unrecorded phone lines are generally banned. 

The City regulator has warned of the increased risk of market abuse during lockdown. There are fears that traders and other finance workers could take advantage of looser monitoring during lockdown to leak inside information or use it for personal benefit. 

The use of facial recognition in employee’s homes risks creating a backlash similar to that faced by Barclays in February over its trial of a staff spying system. 

The bank was forced to scrap a system that allowed bosses to snoop on bankers following objections from staff over invasion of privacy. 

PwC partner George Stylianides told Financial News that finance bosses were concerned about how traders would react to the technology but that the tool could be adjusted by banks to safeguard worries about intrusion on personal time or privacy. Sources close to PwC said the system's purpose was not to monitor staff taking bathroom breaks. 

A PwC spokesman said: “This technology was developed specifically to support the compliance environment required for traders and front office staff. Crucially it is designed to support those adhering to the regulations while remote working in the least intrusive, pragmatic way.”

PwC is separately trialling wearable technology for its own staff to monitor how they are coping with lockdown and to help them to manage stress. 

The firm is using anonymised data and machine learning to identify patterns between sleep, exercise and workload on stress levels and performance. 

Euan Cameron, a partner at PwC, said: “Not only will this anonymised data help us assess how people are coping with work, it will help us to see how we can then manage things better – not just now but with remote working in the future.”

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