In offices of the future, sensors may track your every move – even in the bathroom

Objects will soon be able to 'talk' to each other, locate staff and monitor workplace temperature, but what will this mean for privacy?

At a digital innovation consultancy in central Helsinki, the men's toilets were causing something of an inconvenience. The Finnish company, Futurice, employs many male employees and the bathrooms were often occupied.

However, now they can find out if one is free without leaving their desk. An app with a live map of the office tells them. "The bathrooms on the map turn red when they're occupied and green when they're unoccupied. Then you know where to go," says Paul Houghton, who has the grand title of director of wizardry and development at Futurice.