This being a recent development that has made headlines, it might interest you to read more about it.

Is there a right to privacy in the workplace?

 “ … employees do not check their privacy rights at the office door. There is a right to privacy in the workplace, which has been upheld by Canadian courts and must be respected by public bodies as they consider what security controls are necessary to protect information in government networks.”  

“When the District of Saanich implemented employee monitoring software, staff enabled tools that would collect sensitive personal information from employees including personal websites visited, online banking transactions, confidential correspondence, and private passwords or images. “The District can only collect personal information that is directly related to and necessary for the protection of IT systems and infrastructure. An employee’s every keystroke and email, or screen captures of computing activities at 30-second intervals clearly exceeds that purpose and is not authorized by privacy law.”

“Public bodies have a responsibility to secure and protect their computers and networked systems against internal and external threats, however they must also respect an employee’s legal right to privacy,” said Commissioner Denham.

https://www.oipc.bc.ca/news-releases/1776

Recommended reading:

Investigation Report F15-01, USE OF EMPLOYEE MONITORING SOFTWARE BY THE DISTRICT OF SAANICH, Elizabeth Denham Information and Privacy Commissioner for BC March 30, 2015

https://www.oipc.bc.ca/media/16671/ir_f15-01-districtofsaanich-30mar2015-posted.pdf

Please share your thoughts.