Volume III

Issue : 3: February 10, 2005

• Court Decides Internet Users More Likely to Confuse Trade-marks
• English Courts Are Not an International Libel Tribunal
• Greek Privacy Regulator Declares Employees' Emails to be Private
• Appellate Court Considers a Discussion Forum's Right to Rely on Section 230 of the CDA
• Piracy Bill Targets Camcorders in Movie Theatres
• Canadian Doctor Suspended for Prescribing Drugs for U.S. Patients
• Quebec Company Fined for Failing to Provide Bilingual Website

Home > Volume III > Issue 3: February 10, 2005 > Greek Privacy Regulator Declares Employees' Emails to be Private

Greek Privacy Regulator Declares Employees' Emails to be Private

Greece's privacy regulator has ordered an unnamed company to stop collecting and processing information from employees' electronic communications. The company had been recording information such as email messages sent and received and the websites visited by employees--all unbeknownst to the employees.

The Greek regulator decided that the company might be able to record certain information in the future (such as information vital to the company's business), but not an employee's entire communications.

In Canada, the federal Privacy Commissioner and the Federal Court of Appeal have ruled that monitoring employees in the workplace is only permissible if the surveillance is reasonable. The factors to consider are whether the surveillance was necessary and effective, whether the loss of privacy was proportional to the benefit gained, and whether there was a less privacy-invasive solution.

For more information, visit:
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/050201/323/fbjdy.html

For a copy of the decision (Canadian Privacy Commissioner), visit:
http://www.privcom.gc.ca/cf-dc/2004/cf-dc_040726_e.asp

For a copy of the decision (Canadian Federal Court), visit:
http://www.canlii.org/ca/cas/fct/2004/2004fc852.html