Secret monitoring was a breach of human rights

An employee's human rights were breached when her employer secretly monitored her telephone calls, e-mails and internet use, according to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).

Secretary Ms Copland discovered that her employer, Carmarthenshire College, had been spying on her after it contacted her step-daughter about e-mails she had sent to Copland's work address.

As an employee of a public authority, Copland was able to bring a claim against the UK government under European law. She was represented in her claim to the ECHR by the human rights organisation Liberty.

The government argued that the college's actions were justified, as it was trying to establish whether Copland was using the telephone, e-mail and internet excessively for personal purposes.

But the court agreed with Copland's claim that the college had interfered with her right to respect for private life and correspondence, as set out in Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

As Copland had not had any warning that her calls would be monitored, the court said she had a reasonable expectation of privacy, and the same applied to her e-mail and internet use.

She was awarded Û6,000 in compensation.

Copland v UK (application 62617/00)