May/June 2019

PE Report
Contractor ‘Tracking’ Legislation Raises Privacy Concerns

Design firms that contract with government agencies may want to be on the lookout for “tracking” bills making their way through state legislatures. NSPE recently joined with several organizations to protest the proposed use of tracking software on the computers of government contract employees, including those at engineering firms.

Supporters are promoting the legislation as a way of reducing fraudulent charges by allowing government agencies to verify contract hours worked, while dismissing the threats to personal privacy and security.

One draft bill calls for the installation of verification software on the computers of government contractors. The software is designed to log a user’s every keystroke, and takes a screen shot every three minutes. All of the information gathered must be stored for up to seven years, and government agencies must have unlimited access to the data.

Who stands to gain from this legislation? TransparentBusiness—a company that sells tracking software—is behind the aggressive promotion of the model legislation. The company has presented the bill to more than 40 state legislatures. Arizona, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Montana, New Jersey, and Washington are among the 23 states in which some version of the legislation has been introduced.

In March, an open letter from NSPE and the other opposing organizations was delivered to governors, legislators, state IT leaders, and procurement officials. The letter points out that the software could capture sensitive data like passwords, personal health information, and other personally identifiable information with no mechanism for redaction before being recorded or stored. For example, the letter states, a contractor working 40 hours a week could generate as many as 800 screen shots each week.

The industry coalition believes that the bills will undermine existing progress on data-protection standards, raise costs, and expose both public and private information to new threats. Other organizations joining in the statement include the American Council of Engineering Companies, the Associated General Contractors of America, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, and the Information Technology Industry Council.

NSPE is working with partner societies in states where the legislation is moving forward and has sent action alerts to members in those states. The Society will continue to monitor all the bills and will mount opposition when and where it is needed.