Mihai Barbulescu’s contract was terminated for having used his employer’s internet for personal purposes, during work hours and in breach of internal regulations. The ruling has caused something of a stir, with suggestions that it has given employers carte blanche to go through employees’ private communications.
‘Proportionate’ monitoring
However, it is important to note that the employer accessed a Yahoo Messenger account Mr Barbulescu was asked to set up for work purposes, in the belief that it contained client-related communications. The Court found it reasonable that an employer would want to verify that employees were completing their professional tasks during work hours, and in this case the employer examined only Mr Barbulescu’s Yahoo Messenger account and not ‘the other data and documents that were stored on his computer’.
Privacy regulations still apply
Privacy law expert Annabelle Richard of Pinsent Masons described some of the media headlines on the case as ‘dangerous’ because they had inferred that employee privacy rights did not apply in the work environment, which she said was not the case. She added that there is ‘a mountain of existing regulations and case law that supports employee privacy rights in the workplace’ of which companies need to be aware, despite the reporting of this ECHR ruling. Source: Out-Law.com
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