4. Monitoring at work

Some organisations regularly monitor what their employees are doing on the internet whilst at work.  They can see which chat rooms they visit, which sites they use, who they send emails to and who they receive emails from. 

This monitoring enables organisations to build up a detailed profile of what people are doing online and with whom they communicate. 

There have been many high profile cases of employees being sacked for spending excessive time on social networking sites or eBay. 

Employers say that this helps them to ensure that staff time is being used effectively and that work equipment is being used for approved purposes.  However, many employees view this monitoring as a breach of trust and an invasion of their privacy.