Gert-Jan Fraeyman and Peter Craddock of DLA Piper write:
On 22 February 2018, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) decided a case concerning the alleged violation of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (the Convention) in the context of controlling an employee’s personal files stored on the hard drive of his work computer. The judgment of the ECHR (in French) can be accessed here and the press release (in English) can be accessed here.
The applicant, Eric Libert, is a French national who had been working at the French railway company SNCF. In 2007, Mr Libert had been temporarily suspended from his duties because his employer found that Mr. Libert’s work computer contained, inter alia, address change certificates drawn up for third persons and bearing the official Surveillance unit logo, and a large number of files containing pornographic images and films. He was dismissed from his post on 17 July 2008. After being unsuccessful before the national courts, Mr. Libert lodged an application with the ECHR against the French Government while primarily relying on Article 8 (right to respect for private and family life) of the Convention.
Read more on DLA Piper Privacy Matters.