The Right To Privacy In The Workplace

In September 2017, the European Court of Human Rights (the ECtHR) overturned a January 2016 decision of its lower court regarding employee privacy in the workplace. The case, Barbulescu, concerned the monitoring of employee communications in the workplace and whether the monitoring was excessive in light of the employee's expectation of privacy. The impact of this reversal could prove significant in the context of employers' obligations to safeguard their employees' privacy.

Background

Mr Barbulescu was employed as an engineer. He was asked by his employer to set up an instant messenger account for work purposes. The employer subsequently monitored Barbulescu's messenger usage and observed that Barbulescu was contacting his brother and fiancée for personal reasons. Barbulescu denied the allegations. The employer then provided a transcript of the personal messages to Barbulescu. Following this, he was dismissed for using the employer's resources for personal