We're Watching You...Can Employers Spy On Employees?
30th April 2007
The European Court of Human Rights has recently ruled (Copland v UK C-62617/00) that secretly monitoring an employee’s personal communications without their consent violates an employee’s right to privacy.
Though the circumstances of this case were extreme (i.e. monitoring, collecting and storing personal information relating to telephone calls, email and internet usage for a year and a half), it was done without the employees consent and with no policy in place for informing employees that their communications may be monitored. The judgement confirms that when no warning is given that such communications are to be monitored, there is a reasonable expectation of privacy.
Some argue that this judgement is limited as there is little, if any, reference to the current privacy legislation in the UK. However, what is clear is that if employers choose to monitor their staff, they can do so, so long as their employees are aware that such communications are to be monitored, within good reason, and through an appropriate policy already in place.
For more information, please contact:
Glasgow: Paul Brown or Michael McLaughlin
Edinburgh: Alan Strain
The information contained in this article is given for general information only and does not constitute legal advice on any specific matter.