Bodily Data Control, Human Agency Threats, and Job Insecurity

Abstract

Across contemporary workplaces, organizations are increasingly deploying biometric technologies that capture, analyze, and act upon workers’ physiological and behavioral data, including heart rate variability, movement patterns, and keystroke dynamics. These technologies do not merely monitor workers; they introduce a qualitatively distinct form of managerial authority that is shaping perceptions of employees’ future organizational standing. We term this phenomenon bodily data control, defined as the organizational expectation that workers’ bodily data constitutes a legitimate input into evaluation, coordination, and intervention. We contend that bodily data control threatens a worker’s ability to think, plan, and act, which elicits job insecurity. Job insecurity refers to the perceived threat to the stability and continuity of one’s employment. We propose a theoretical model in which bodily data control threatens three dimensions of human agency: interpretive agency, moral agency, and instrumental agency. We theorize that these agency threats manifest experientially as perceived creepiness, affronts to inherent and meritocratic dignity, and reduced job autonomy, respectively, each of which elicits job insecurity through a distinct causal pathway. Our theoretical model and propositions contribute to job insecurity scholarship by reframing technology-induced job insecurity as a function of managerial authority over bodily data, rather than task displacement alone. We also contribute to broader management conversations regarding human agency, algorithmic governance, and the ethical treatment of workers in an era of pervasive surveillance.

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