At the beginning of the twenty-first century the term 'privacy' gained new prominence around the world, but in the legal arena it is still a concept in 'disarray'. Enclosing it within legal frameworks seems to be a particularly difficult task in the employment context, where encroachments upon privacy are not only potentially more frequent, but also, and most importantly, qualitatively different from those taking place in other areas of modern society. This book suggests that these problems can only be addressed by the development of a holistic approach to its protection, an approach that addresses the issue of not only contemporary regulation but also the conceptualization, adjudication, and common (public) perception of employees' privacy. The book draws on a comprehensive analysis of the conceptual as well as regulatory convergences and divergences between European, American and Canadian models of privacy protection, to reconsider the conceptual and normative foundations of the contemporary paradigm of employees' privacy and to elucidate the pillars of a holistic approach to the protection of right to privacy in employment.
At the beginning of the twenty-first century the term 'privacy' gained new prominence around the world, but in the legal arena it is still a concept in 'disarray'. Enclosing it within legal frameworks seems to be a particularly difficult task in the employment context, where encroachments upon privacy are not only potentially more frequent, but also, and most importantly, qualitatively different from those taking place in other areas of modern society. This book suggests that these problems can only be addressed by the development of a holistic approach to its protection, an approach that addresses the issue of not only contemporary regulation but also the conceptualization, adjudication, and common (public) perception of employees' privacy. The book draws on a comprehensive analysis of the conceptual as well as regulatory convergences and divergences between European, American and Canadian models of privacy protection, to reconsider the conceptual and normative foundations of the contemporary paradigm of employees' privacy and to elucidate the pillars of a holistic approach to the protection of right to privacy in employment.
In the last few years, social media has become the primary way of communicating, not only among friends and colleagues but also between employers and employees and between companies and consumers. For employers, the phenomenon offers great opportunities, but also concomitant dangers due primarily to use of social media by employees and employees' representatives. Written in the context of employment laws as well as privacy laws, this book surveys the state of the law in over thirty key jurisdictions, including most of the developed countries of Europe, Asia, and North America and major developing countries worldwide. The publication arose from a seminar prepared by the editors and others at which it was clearly identified that internationally operating employers need a comprehensive and user-friendly multinational summary on employment and labour law questions arising in connection with the use of social media. The book is divided into country chapters, each written by a known local specialist. In order to easily 'navigate' through the issues for each country, the chapters follow a uniform structure, covering the applicable statutory regimes, case law, useful checklists, and recommendations. Among the issues and topics dealt with are the following: - employees' entitlement to use social media at the workplace; - whether employers can require the use of social media by employees; - right of employers to monitor employees' use of social media outside the workplace; - employers' potential liability for employees' misuse of social media; - right of employee representatives to use employers' equipment for social media purposes; - employers' remedies against misuse of social media by employees and employee representatives; - development and drafting of a social media policy; and - role of social media in employer–employee disputes. No other publication exists providing interested parties with a practical and strategic guide to legal issues affecting the use of social media in the workplace. With its easy-to-use country-by-country format and its expert recommendations, this unique resource will prove itself as an incomparable handbook for lawyers, human resources professionals, and in-house counsel advising or working for internationally operating businesses. It will also be of inestimable value for academics and policymakers concerned with the legal ramifications of social media use in the workplace.
The "Overview of the Privacy Act of 1974," prepared by the Department of Justice's Office of Privacy and Civil Liberties (OPCL), is a discussion of the Privacy Act's disclosure prohibition, its access and amendment provisions, and its agency recordkeeping requirements. Tracking the provisions of the Act itself, the Overview provides reference to, and legal analysis of, court decisions interpreting the Act's provisions.
Privacy is one of the most urgent issues associated with information technology and digital media. This book claims that what people really care about when they complain and protest that privacy has been violated is not the act of sharing information itself—most people understand that this is crucial to social life —but the inappropriate, improper sharing of information. Arguing that privacy concerns should not be limited solely to concern about control over personal information, Helen Nissenbaum counters that information ought to be distributed and protected according to norms governing distinct social contexts—whether it be workplace, health care, schools, or among family and friends. She warns that basic distinctions between public and private, informing many current privacy policies, in fact obscure more than they clarify. In truth, contemporary information systems should alarm us only when they function without regard for social norms and values, and thereby weaken the fabric of social life.
The Poverty of Privacy Rights makes a simple, controversial argument: Poor mothers in America have been deprived of the right to privacy. The U.S. Constitution is supposed to bestow rights equally. Yet the poor are subject to invasions of privacy that can be perceived as gross demonstrations of governmental power without limits. Courts have routinely upheld the constitutionality of privacy invasions on the poor, and legal scholars typically understand marginalized populations to have "weak versions" of the privacy rights everyone else enjoys. Khiara M. Bridges investigates poor mothers' experiences with the state—both when they receive public assistance and when they do not. Presenting a holistic view of just how the state intervenes in all facets of poor mothers' privacy, Bridges shows how the Constitution has not been interpreted to bestow these women with family, informational, and reproductive privacy rights. Bridges seeks to turn popular thinking on its head: Poor mothers' lack of privacy is not a function of their reliance on government assistance—rather it is a function of their not bearing any privacy rights in the first place. Until we disrupt the cultural narratives that equate poverty with immorality, poor mothers will continue to be denied this right.
