EEOC Advises Using Wearables With Employment Discrimination Laws in Mind.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has issued a warning to employers about the potential for wearable technologies to violate employment discrimination laws by collecting and using sensitive information. Employers must be cautious about using data from wearables to make decisions based on protected characteristics such as race, age, disability, or genetic information. The EEOC emphasizes that using wearable-generated information inappropriately could lead to violations of Equal Employment Opportunity laws, which prohibit discrimination based on various protected characteristics. Additionally, employer-mandated wearables that collect health and biometric data may be considered medical examinations under the Americans with Disabilities Act, with limitations on their use and requirements for safeguarding medical records. [Extracted from the article]