IT Blog

The hospitality industry is in the process of introducing remote panic buttons in an effort to address the widespread issue of violence and sexual assault against hotel staff, and other sectors—including education and healthcare—may soon follow.

Thanks to the hard work of unions and the American Hotel & Lodging Association, over 20,000 hotel properties in Canada and the United States have committed to providing an estimated 1.2 million employees with Employee Safety Devices. Participating brands are currently in the process of rolling out a program that will require all housekeeping staff to carry a panic button device on them at all times. When activated, the devices provide precise location information to first responders. Early experiments have already proven them to be effective.

These efforts, however, are being undermined by the spread of low-quality versions of the technology that pose significant privacy and security risks to the people who carry them. Weak password…