The use of fingerprints to register and control workers’ movements is advancing in the Netherlands, the Financieele Dagblad says on Tuesday.

Temporary employment bureau Tempo Team, for example, says it makes 20,000 ‘verification’ checks a week at different companies. It has placed the fingerprint readers at Grolsch, Etos, Aldipress and DA chemists so it can check when its staff start and finish work.

The company, part of the giant Randstad group, is forecasting ‘explosive growth’ in the use of the scans. Scanning fingerprints simplifies administration processes and gives a snapshot view of how many people are on duty, spokeswoman Monique Boonstra told the paper.

‘I can see from home if my staff are on time and warn the client if some have not turned up,’ she said. The use of the scans has been supported by the Randstad works council.

However, legal experts are concerned about the implications of using scanners because of the privacy implications. ‘It is a very serious method of checking whether Mr Jansen has turned up to work,’ lawyer Robert Boekhorst of Benthem en Keulen said.

In addition, the use of scans at gyms and in childcare institutions raises fears about the potential misuse of people’s biometric details, the FD says.