{
  "slug": "buddy-punching-presence",
  "title": "Clocking in for a friend is the oldest fraud in the building",
  "summary": "Buddy punching survives every time clock ever built, because clocks identify a credential, not a person. The fix is not a fingerprint reader.",
  "lede": "Every time clock ever built identifies a credential, a device, or a body part in a database. None of them identify a person who is standing there and meant to start work. That gap is why buddy punching outlived the punch card, the badge reader, and the fingerprint scanner.",
  "date": "2026-09-24",
  "reading_time": "18 min read",
  "category": "Workforce",
  "tags": ["buddy punching", "time clock fraud", "biometric time clock", "BIPA", "certified payroll", "presence receipt", "workforce management"],
  "image": "https://cdn.twc.sh/images/igcache/Buddy%20Punching%20Presence/1200_630/blog.jpg",
  "url": "/blog/buddy-punching-presence.html",
  "wordcount": 4352,
  "related": ["proof-of-work-not-surveillance", "evv-phantom-visits", "proof-without-surveillance"],
  "schema": "Article"
}