Report on the workforce monitoring and surveillance practices: a practical guidance for employers

Extraits de l'exposé

[...] Thus this question of employees monitoring involves issues about data protection and human rights such as the respect of private life. The potential for abuse is huge: the information may be inaccurate, it can be collected for one purpose and used for another or they can be given to a third party without the consent of the employee Thus a growing number of regulations have been enforced since 1998 in order to protect the employee and to delimit how far the employer can use monitoring practices without infringing on employee's privacy. [...]

[...] She had to fill a questionnaire and disclosed that she suffered from sickle- cell anaemia. The employer refused to give the applicant the job after discovering the medical report. The court held that the general practitioner was under a contract of service with the employer and has thus no duty of care to the applicant. There was no breach of privacy. The Employment Codes of Practices The Employment Practices Code published by the Information Commissioner in 2005 comprises four different parts Recruitment and Selection, Employment Records, Monitoring at Work and Medical Records. [...]

[...] References Textbooks - Lewis and Sargeant, (2004) Essentials of Employment Laws, Institute of Personnel and Development, London, Chap 18 Human Rights and data protection. [...]

[...] This decision has a huge impact on data processing and increases the power of data controllers. They can process huge amount of unfocused personal information despite the fact that they infringe employees' privacy. The judgment can undermine the right to privacy and let the worker without any protection. Moreover the narrow meaning of ?personal data? is a bit confusing: these data can not be personal at the beginning when being collected by the data controller, but they can become ?personal? depending on the use made by the data controller. [...]

[...] *Data should be accurate and, where necessary, kept up to date. *Data should not be kept longer than is necessary for the purposes for which it is processed. *Data should be processed in accordance with the rights of the data subject under the Act. *Appropriate technical and organizational measures should be taken against unauthorized or unlawful processing of personal data and against accidental loss or destruction of, or damage to, personal data. *Data should not be transferred to a country or territory outside the European Economic Area unless that country or territory ensures an adequate level of protection for the rights and freedoms of data subjects in relation to the processing of personal data. [...]