Rio Tinto contracts Sodexo to roll out ‘smart’ infrastructure in West Australia

Last March Sodexo won a 10 year facilities management contract with Rio Tinto for the Pilbara mining region of West Australia.

Company pride in the innovative use of smart technology has also brought a sudden realization that the intention to ‘capture individual insights and metrics on equipment and people movement, customer satisfaction, even retail spending’ is perceived as intrusive and a serious invasion of privacy.

The company intends attaching sensors to light poles and rubbish bins and anticipates experimenting with drones.

The Western Mine Workers Alliance and individual workers are alarmed by the surveillance measures and their potential for misuse. Read more in the online Guardian here.