> 
> http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/parlment/NSWBills.nsf/0/941266A03EB10718CA256FF600242EDB
> 
> The law is pretty explicit in saying that covert surveillance is what
> is being prohibited. If the employer puts its employees on notice that
> they will be surveilled and that they conduct the surveillance within
> some fairly reasonable guidelines, there are no real issues.

  There are similar laws which have been in place for awhile in Europe. This 
was raised at the IDC Security Forum and the IDC/Kahn Compliance Forum last 
week, and basically, it's a MUCH different ballgame across the pond with 
respect to what an employer can and can't do. 
 However, as Patrick stated, if you're put on notice that your employer has 
some reason to suspect you're doing something... then the protections go out 
the window. Kinda makes you wonder though... if they can't randomly surveil 
someone, then how would they be able to suspect you of doing something... =)
 http://www.cdt.org/privacy/eudirective/EU_Directive_.html
 
http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/pri/en/oj/dat/2002/l_201/l_20120020731en00370047.pdf

There is an interesting proviso in there about
> employees working from home, however. The employer is much more
> restricted in what they can surveil -- mainly company provided or paid
> for equipment (which opens a real can of worms when the employee is
> being reimbursed for use of personally-owned equipment (such as a
> Blackberry).

 This is similar to the point Chuck raised yesterday about credit cards and 
expense accounts. And it's specifically why I won't commingle any work and 
personal related activities on any devices/tools that belong to me. My 
feeling is if my employer wants to have me use certain tools to accomplish 
my work when I'm out of the office, they can provide the tools for me to do 
that... otherwise, it must not be too important to them.
 Even when was consulting, I had independent equipment, accounts, phone 
numbers and credit cards used solely for business purposes. If I ever was 
audited or my expenses came into question with a client, I never wanted to 
have any of my personal information compromised or questioned.
 I had to review and sign a privacy and computer use policy when I was 
hired. We have a section on this in our annual security briefing, which is 
mandatory for all employees. We have an introductory message that comes up 
on our system every time we log on reminding us whose computer it is, what 
it is and isn't to be used for and what the consequences of misuse are. The 
policy makes certain provisions/accommodations for non-business use during 
the hours you're at work, but it doesn't relieve you of being subject to 
having that use scrutinized. It also very specifically states what use isn't 
allowable, UNDER ANY CONDITIONS.
 I'm sure in most larger organizations, everyone has signed something or 
been provided some training that they had to sign-in for somewhere along the 
way essentially giving up your rights to certain aspects of your "privacy" 
in the workplace... just like you have to sign some things regarding 
limitations of liability at schools for your kids and elsewhere in life.
 Larry

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