Privacy In The Workplace

Lynette Copland, a secretary at Carmarthenshire College, was awarded 3,000 euros plus costs of double that by the European Court of Human Rights in the case of Copland v UK after succeeding in a challenge against her employer and the UK Government (the College being a statutory body, publicly funded and administered by the state).

A senior member of staff at the college secretly monitored Ms Copland's telephone calls, email correspondence and internet usage, allegedly for 18 months, without her consent. Ms Copland claimed her employer's activity breached her rights under Article 8 of the European Convention of Human Rights, which provides that "everyone has the right to respect for his private and family life, his home and his correspondence".