GPS Phone Gives School Employee Failing Grade

An administrative trial judge has recommended that the City of New York fire John Halpin, a supervisor for the school system after records from his city issued GPS enabled cellphone placed him at his home while he was supposed to be working the New York Post reported today.

When asked by The Post about privacy concerns, a spokesperson stated:

"The department [of Education] is not expected to notify its employees of all the methods it may possibly use to uncover their misconduct," Richard decided.

"The undisputed intent of issuing the cellphone with GPS was for the department to be able to determine the whereabouts of its supervisors in the field."

The Post cited as an example that Mr. Halpin's phone indicated that on March 8, he was home in Levittown, L.I., at 2:40 p.m. Mr. Halpin's regular shift wasn't scheduled to end until 3:30 p.m. In an odd twist, phone records indicated that Mr. Halpin often arrived to work early. However, the judge ruled that getting to work early didn't excuse his early departures.

See also, Privacy Concerns a Key Hurdle for Locaton Based Services.