EU Court Reverses Ruling On Employee Chat Surveillance

EU Court Reverses Ruling On Employee Chat Surveillance

September 5, 2017, Law360

Helena Milner-Smith is quoted in a Law360 article regarding the European Court of Human Rights ruling on employee privacy in a case brought by Bogdan Mihai Barbulescu. "The decision serves as a reminder for employers who monitor workplace communications to ensure their monitoring practices do not go beyond what is necessary for a legitimate purpose, that employees normally receive prior notice of the monitoring and that appropriate safeguards are in place to preserve privacy in spite of the monitoring," says Milner-Smith. "However the grand chamber's ruling will have very little practical impact in the UK, since these steps are already widely recognized as good practice by UK employers and reflect the requirements of existing privacy legislation."