On August 9, the US Patent and Trademark Office published a patent application from Google, the company who no longer tells its employees to not be evil. The product Google is hoping to patent is, as the application puts it, “A method and system for automating work pattern quantification.” Seems innocuous enough, right?

Eh, maybe not. Google’s application states that, “There is a need for a tool which automates the process of quantifying work patterns and provides feedback on worker focus.” Google hopes to accomplish this, essentially, by automating the process of bosses spying on their employees.

The application describes a system where everything an employee does at their computer is monitored and quantified into “focus metrics,” and then automatically offers those workers feedback that will encourage them to change their work patters to maximize their productivity. The “focus metrics” would be augmented by “sensor data from mobile devices, sensor data about or from a work environment, or personal sensors/devices.”