• Obinice@lemmy.world
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    4 days ago

    When was it banned?

    When I lived in the European Union we had surveillance cameras and microphones in all of our office spaces in the company I worked at.

    • r00ty@kbin.life
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      4 days ago

      I think it depends on the type of surveillance and what they intend to do with the data.

      In the UK I think for example that you shouldn’t expect to have any real privacy on a work owned laptop. But at the same time they need to inform employees what they’re doing, and the reason for doing so. Usually this won’t be made clear it’s to ensure you are actively pressing buttons for your entire contracted work period. If they say it’s for security and/or adherence to policy. They can really only use the data they obtain for those purposes.

      Now in reality I can tell you it won’t stop a lot of companies using the data for illegal reasons but wrapping the dismissal around another reason or, just turning it into a suspiciously specific redundancy (if you suddenly get moved into a position with a very unique title, personally it would set off alarm bells :P). This happens more than I think it should, where I work.

      Cameras and the like again are fine if it is made clearly overtly that they are monitoring the area. Again they should provide a reason why. If they say it’s for security (making sure people aren’t stealing equipment, or people that shouldn’t be in the office are there, or other illegal actions) then technically they should not use that personal data for other reasons. The same caveat above of course applies.

      So, it’s just a bit more complex in UK/EU I think. But, companies can always work around the rules and get what they want in other ways, and they know how to do it such that it’s hard to prove otherwise.