1. Lifestyle
  2. Tech
  3. News

European Court rules that it is not a breach of privacy to read messages — but bosses could snoop on pretty much everything you do already

As long as you have been informed that your communications will be monitored, which is probably in your contract, then it’s almost always possible for your boss to do so
This picture taken on April 16, 2014 shows a man using a laptop at an office of Sina Weibo, widely known as China's version of Twitter, in Beijing WANG ZHAO/AFP/Getty Images

A European court ruling has made clear that bosses can spy on their employees. But the ruling really just points out the wide range of the current law — which allows bosses to spy on their employers in almost every circumstance.

The ruling revolved around a Romanian engineer who was fired after his boss looked in on Yahoo Messenger conversations and saw that he had been using it to communicate with his fiancée and brother. It found that the engineer couldn’t appeal under the European Convention on Human Rights and that his right to privacy wasn’t infringed.

The ruling confirms once again that bosses have huge powers to snoop on the conversations of their employees — whether or not they have anything to do with work.

Read more

Your boss can now officially monitor your WhatsApp

So long as the monitoring is related to the business, the equipment being used is provided for work and the employer has told workers that their communications could be monitored, employers are able legally to look in on conversations.

The Citizens’ Advice Bureau makes clear that the limits aren’t really very limiting at all. The allowed circumstances cover “almost every situation where your employer might want to monitor your electronic communications, except where the monitoring is for purely private or spiteful reasons almost every situation where your employer might want to monitor your electronic communications, except where the monitoring is for purely private or spiteful reasons”, it writes.

The monitoring must happen for one of a long list of reasons for it to be lawful. But that includes broad things like checking that work is being done properly and that people aren’t using computers or the internet for their own purposes.

Gadgets and tech news in pictures

Gadgets and tech news in pictures

  • 1/21 FA announces it will host the Emirates FA Cup video game tournament

    The FA has announced that for the first time ever it will host the inaugural Emirates FA Cup gaming tournament, with video game fans from across the world invited to compete for glory at Wembley Stadium connected by EE. Early rounds will take place in iconic locations in the stadium such as The Royal Box, the changing rooms and the players’ tunnel, with the two finalists set to play the virtual final using Wembley Stadium’s 82 foot screens as they sit in the centre circle. Gamers of varying ability will descend upon Wembley Stadium as the home of football transforms into an epic gaming colosseum set to turn heads and sweat palms in equal measure

  • 2/21 Oculus Rift release date

    Oculus has said that it is about to open pre-orders for its Rift virtual reality headset. Some have claimed that the hardware will be the device that will bring virtual reality into the mainstream. And it will start being available from 6 January 2016, the company has said. The company hasn’t said when the headsets will actually start arriving, or how much they will cost. It isn’t clear whether the company intends to announce more details before pre-orders begin

  • 3/21 iPhone stock apps can be removed by just putting them into special folder

    A new trick shows a quick way of getting rid of the stock apps that might be cluttering up your iPhone screen — at least for a while. The iPhone comes with a range of apps that are stuck on the phone, and can't be deleted like others. While some are key to the phone — like the Phone app itself — others like Stocks are less well-regarded. But the new trick shows how you can hide those unused stock apps with just a quick trick using some folders

  • 4/21 CES 2016: Four big things set to be revealed

    The CES 2016 gadget show is about to kick off, and nearly the entire technology industry has descended on Las Vegas to try and show off the future. Every year, companies and technologists attempt to show that they have seen what’s coming and that they will be there to offer it. Every year, a lot of people get it wrong. This year’s expectations are as big as ever. Every year, CES unofficially gets a big theme that everything’s supposed to be about — this year that’s virtual reality. There is also future for cars, smart home and wearables

  • 5/21 Terrorists could use drones to attack planes and spread propaganda

    A government counter-terrorism adviser has warned that terrorists could use commercially available drones to attack passenger planes. Detective Chief Inspector Colin Smith, a security expert and adviser to the Home Office Centre for Applied Science and Technology, warned that small quadcopter drones could easily be used by terrorists for attacks and propaganda purposes

  • 6/21 Goggle-Eyed Lemurs watch TV as part of their reintroduction to the wild

    Port Lympne Reserve in Kent, UK, has installed Sony Bravia 4K TVs into its lemur and langur enclosures to show life-like footage to its primates as part of its ‘Back to the Wild’ programme. The charity will trial TV watching on Sony’s 4K TVs as part of this programme in a bid to make langurs more familiar with the new environment

  • 7/21 UberPool

    Uber has added a lift-sharing feature to its app in London, allowing people to share their taxi with a stranger in return for a reduced fair. Users will be given 25 per cent off their journey if they say they will let up to two other passengers share their car. Drivers will then receive a message telling them that they’ll be picking up more than one fare, and can plan their route accordingly. London is the second European country to get the feature, after Paris. It was first launched in San Francisco and now most people who use the app do so with the feature

  • 8/21 Attempt to build world’s biggest Rubik’s cube ends in disaster

    An attempt to build the world’s biggest Rubik’s cube ended in disaster when the puzzle exploded as it was turned for the first time. One of the masterminds behind Coren Puzzle, a YouTube channel dedicated to custom puzzles, live-streamed the final assembly of the 22x22 cube. The video was the culmination of seven months of construction, which included a month of deliberation on how to build the mechanism at the centre of the device

  • 9/21 New battery chip could let phones charge in minutes

    The maker of a new chip claims that it could reduce the charging times of phones to a few minutes, and could prevent dangerous explosions. The tiny chip could be embedded into batteries of all sizes and monitor how healthy and charged they are. That in turn would mean that the batteries would become much safer and quicker to charge, according to the scientist that developed it. Unhealthy lithium-ion batteries can be at risk of exploding or catching fire, as well as gradually losing their capacity so that they run out more quickly. Those problems may become even more important as people move towards electric cars or other vehicles

  • 10/21 Facebook on iPhone gets new fast-loading Instant Articles

    If you've noticed articles on Facebook loading a little quicker recently, that's because the new Instant Articles have been launched to all iPhone users. Instant Articles load up to 10 times quicker than a regular article, and have some enriched features - such as unobtrusive autoplay videos, zoomable high-definition images and interactive maps

  • 11/21 Halo 5 patch

    Gamers looking forward to playing Halo 5: Guardians on its release on 27 October 2015 will have to wait to download a 9GB day one patch before the game's multiplayer mode can run properly. Those without the patch won't even be able to play multiplayer at all until it's downloaded, in yet another case of a blockbuster game needing a patch on the day of launch

  • 12/21 New HTC Desire 626 handset launch

    HTC has launched its latest Desire 626 handset with the Sense 7 software which automatically detects whether you’re at work, at home or on-the-go and alters its theme to suit your location. This advanced technology intelligently analyses your favourite photos to modify the look and feel of your apps, allowing you to modify the colour scheme and backgrounds – the ultimate in personalisation

  • 13/21 Nasa confirms Mars water discovery

    Nasa has announced that it has found evidence of flowing water on Mars. Scientists have long speculated that Recurring Slope Lineae — or dark patches — on Mars were made up of briny water but the new findings prove that those patches are caused by liquid water, which it has established by finding hydrated salts.

  • 14/21 Customers wait in line at the Apple Store in Paris to get their hands on the iPhone 6s

    Several hundred camped outside the London store in Covent Garden. The 6s will have new features like a vastly improved camera and a pressure-sensitive “3D Touch” display

  • 15/21 Bloodhound SSC: The most powerful ever made is shown off to the public

    The car is displayed at Downing Street, when the team visited David Cameron to demonstrate the project

  • 16/21 Lunar eclipse threatens Nasa technology

    Artist's rendering of Nasa's LRO spacecraft, which will have to withstand a rapid drop in temperature during an upcoming lunar eclipse that could lead to it shutting down

  • 17/21 Mobile phone bills could rocket up after Ofcom announced that the fees it charges to phone operators will be trebled

    The regulator will now charge far more to phone companies for using the mobile spectrum — and though it says that fee will not be passed on to customers, experts have said that prices are likely to go up

  • 18/21 New iPhone 6s rose gold

    Apple has released a bright pink new iPhone 6s — likely the only way that you’ll be able to tell that someone has the new handset. The company released the new phone with much fanfare, but almost all of the changes — a new camera and pressure-sensitive display — were on the inside. The only new noticeable addition to the phone’s look is the very pink rose gold colour, and a tiny “S” on the back. The new handsets will be released on September 25

  • 19/21 iPad Pro

    Apple has launched a huge new iPad, which it hopes can bring the tablet to offices and designers. But it unveiled it with an Apple-designed stylus — an idea that was famously mocked by late Apple founder Steve Jobs

  • 20/21 Apple TV

    Apple has introduced the new Apple TV

  • 21/21 Apple Pencil

    Apple has introduced the new Apple Pencil


Bosses aren’t allowed to monitor people at work in secret, by using things like hidden cameras, in all but a very limited number of cases. Data protection law says that such monitoring should only ever happen in the case of serious crime, like drug dealing in toilets.

The rules on monitoring are usually written in an employees’ contract. That will usually make clear that communications could be intercepted and that workers might be punished depending on what is found there.

Comments