Worst Idea Ever? iPhone App Tracks Employees

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If you have a micromanaging boss, watch out. GPS Punch! is a new iPhone app that promises to "track employee attendance in business situations."

And what are those situations? The free app says it can use the iPhone's GPS to "eliminate slacking off" as employees are on sales trips, since managers can see where their employees are and track their moves. It follows those sales employees on the road, ostensibly boosting sales calls by monitoring location history, so you can't hole up in a cafe somewhere instead.

Those road warriors can now get the "punch" from babysitting bosses in Japanese and English. (An Android version of the app is next up, they say.)

The pugilistic name of the app doesn't inspire good faith – at least from where I'm standing. (That's distracted, slovenly and away from prying eyes in my home office, if you really want to know.)

Just the fact that many employees (not just sales people who travel frequently) are expected to be available via cell phone in what used to be be off hours makes this seem more than a little unfair, though part and parcel of the ongoing trend of employers monitoring our digital footprints.

Then again, maybe I'm overreacting. It could just bee seen as an extension of the Foursquare check-in culture and apps like Reallymet, which provide alibis or the same informal function.

What do you think?

Via GPS Punch!

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