Boss Or Big Brother?

As we enter 2016, the lines between workers' private and professional lives are becoming increasingly blurred. Many employers provide laptops/smartphones/other cool gadgets to employees that are used for both professional and personal means. It is common for employees to use the same e-mail account to communicate with business and personal contacts. Employees are often encouraged to use social media – once seen as a purely personal method of communication – as a business development tool. And in the workplace, having a chat by the water cooler with your colleagues is quickly being replaced by instant messaging/WhatsApp/Facebook chats (usually using the employer's wifi!).

Whilst this 21st century explosion of technology means that communication is now faster and easier than ever, as we continue to digitise our lives a number of interesting issues begin to arise, some of which were considered by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in the case of Barbulescu (B) v