Asmens privatumas elektroninėje darbo vietoje: teisiniai aspektai

Abstract

Substantial technology developments over the past two decades have dramatically transformed today’s workplaces. It became easier to perform work functions. However, these changes made employers to think about productive and effective working time usage in the electronic working place. Companies began to use electronic surveillance. The appliance of this equipment determined the appearance of legal problems. Hence the usage of control technologies brings the conflict among the interests of employer and employee. There arises necessity to decide to whose interests to give the preference. There is offered to seek the balance of the interests in order to retain the confidence and trustworthy atmosphere in the workplace. In fact, this is achieved when the fundamental data protection principles – legitimacy, transparency, proportionality and security – are being applied. The legal regulation of USA and European Union differently estimates the problem of the privacy in the electronic working place. The United States inclined to give the preference to business interests because employer posses the electronic equipment. Besides here the employer can use the provider exception. This shows that the employee in the United States can have no reasonable expectation of privacy in the electronic working place. However, in Europe the electronic surveillance is morally illegal and infringes the constitutional right of privacy. European Union values the data protection principles and the ability to communicate with the outside world while being in the workplace. Topic of the privacy in the electronic working place in Lithuania is rather new and poorly examined. Moreover it is admitted that a clash of employees and employers interests can appear without adequate legal regulation. General provisions of Lithuanian law suggest that an employer has a right to control what an employee does in the electronic workplace. The sociological research which was performed in the study demonstrates that few companies in Lithuania have the policy of the electronic and communication devices. There dominates liberal attitude towards the usage of electronic mail and the internet for the personal purposes. In our opinion, companies have to pay attention whether employees do not abuse the given freedom. This is possible to achieve through the decrease of the employee privacy expectations and determination of rules.