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<p>The Government has made no assessment of the judgment The case raises the important
question of whether the Applicant had a reasonable expectation that his communications
would not be monitored; and could reasonably expect privacy when communicating from
the Yahoo Messenger account that he had registered at his employer's request, and
where there was a strict company policy prohibiting use of work systems for personal
purposes. The Applicant alleged interference with his article 8 rights and that the
interference was not foreseeable or proportionate. But the Court held that there was
nothing to indicate that the domestic authorities failed to strike a fair balance
between the applicant’s right to respect for his private life under Article 8 and
his employer’s interests, and that there had been no violation of Article 8 of the
Convention.</p><p> </p><p>The attached ICO's employment practices code sets out guidance
in relation to workplace monitoring. The code is already clear that employers should
have policies in place explaining how they expect their IT systems to be used, including
setting out the extent to which, if any, the IT system can be used for personal use.
Even where no such policy is in place, it is reasonable in certain circumstances for
employers to monitor an employee’s use of the IT systems to ensure compliance with
any policy or to ensure that employees are not abusing the use of the system. Such
monitoring may include accessing non-work communications but this should only be done
in exceptional circumstances.</p>
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