"MindsEye studio staff takes legal action, saying management installed ‘invasive’ surveillance software,"

A group of employees at MindsEye studio Built a Rocket Boy have started legal proceedings against management over alleged data privacy violations.

As reported by Game Developer, the staff – led by members of the IWGB Game Workers Union – claim that management installed surveillance software called Teramind onto their hardware, and weren’t transparent about what data it was storing.

The union says the Teramind software was removed from employee devices in March, following a collective grievance against the company was signed by 40 employees.

It’s alleged, however, that management refuses to disclose what data was collected from the employees and how that data was stored, as well as the reason for its installation in the first place...

In a statement about the legal action, the IWGB Workers Union said it “alleges that BARB’s use of the software violates both data protection laws and the workforce’s basic dignity, exceeding the legitimate remit of monitoring workers’ productivity or safeguarding the company’s security by recording individuals in their homes and without their consent”.

“In an internal meeting which was leaked to the press, bosses Mark Gerhard and Leslie Benzies confirmed that the software Teramind had been installed without workers’ knowledge,” it added. “The programme tracks users’ key strokes, records screen activity and captures microphone audio.”...