Is Your Compliance Program Ready for Google Glass?

Let’s be honest, how many of us feel like we have a good handle on social media as it relates to our compliance programs? Or, how about the basics of cell phone use (camera, video, etc.)?  Many of us are still struggling with these issues, which involve technology innovations that are already 10 years old.

The next wave of technology that will push compliance programs is already here, and most aren’t even close to being ready for it.  Just this week it was announced that Facebook, Walmart and other companies are joining with the US Department of Commerce to draft a voluntary code of conduct around facial recognition scans in the workplace.

If that wasn’t advanced enough for you, we just started playing with Google Glass here at Complí last week.  We want to understand not only the potential applications in the workplace (especially around training on-demand), but also the plethora of compliance issues that would arise from continued advancements in wearable technology.  Some see this new world of technology as a tool to be embraced by compliance officers,…others are running the other way screaming.

Point is, those that are dragging their feet on determining how new technology impacts their compliance program are already woefully behind.  Changes in technology are coming at us faster than many are comfortable with (Google’s continued advancements and patents in wearable technology like the microphone “tattoo” make me feel like James Cameron’s vision of Skynet from the Terminator movies is closer than we all might like to think).

Like any advancement, getting ahead and finding ways to utilize these tools to enhance your compliance program is the right move.  We need to be asking both how to protect against misuse of these technologies and how to embrace them to improve our programs.  And for crying out loud, get your social media policy done once and for all before you have to start worrying about microphone “tattoos.”