Reasons and Strategies for Privacy Features in Tracking and Tracing Systems-A Systematic Literature Review

Area of Science:

• Industrial Engineering
• Information Technology
• Privacy Studies

Background:

• Digitization in manufacturing increases the relevance of asset tracking and tracing in supply chains.
• Current tracking technologies extend to collecting employee position and biometric data, raising privacy concerns.
• Potential for employee performance monitoring and behavior tracking can lead to increased stress and disadvantage.

Purpose of the Study:

• To provide a systematic overview of industrial tracking and tracing systems, focusing on their impact on employee privacy.
• To identify and evaluate existing techniques used in these systems concerning employee privacy.
• To highlight underrepresented privacy-preserving techniques and suggest new research opportunities.

Main Methods:

• Systematic review of current literature and available tracking and tracing systems in the manufacturing industry.
• Analysis of technologies used for data collection (position, biometric) and their privacy implications.
• Evaluation of identified techniques based on their effectiveness in preserving employee privacy.

Main Results:

• Identified a gap in systematic reviews focusing on employee privacy within industrial tracking systems.
• Evaluated various tracking and tracing techniques, assessing their privacy risks and benefits.
• Highlighted the potential of Privacy by Design principles to mitigate negative impacts on employee privacy.

Conclusions:

• Industrial tracking systems present dual benefits for operations and potential risks to employee privacy.
• A need exists for further research into and implementation of advanced privacy-preserving techniques.
• Adopting a Privacy by Design approach is crucial for balancing technological advancement with employee data protection.