Under watch: Indian city workers protest digital surveillance

As India pushes ahead with its plan to turn 100 urban centres into smart cities, local governments are using technology like GPS watches to provide data they can use to improve efficiency and tighten budgets. But city employees, campaigners and technology experts have raised concerns about privacy and the potential misuse of that data, as well as the susceptibility of the watches to failure like weak GPS signal or the devices switching off. — AP

CHENNAI, India: Every evening at the end of his shift, Anil Sharma heads to a rally ground in the Indian city of Chandigarh to join hundreds of colleagues protesting a new initiative that lets the local administration keep track of city workers using GPS watches.

A municipal gardener in the capital of the northern Punjab state, Sharma has been protesting against the watches that city employees are being told to wear to track their efficiency, a move he called "humiliating" and "unethical".