Bosses risk criminal charges for email spying

NSW will be the first Australian state to outlaw unauthorised spying of employees using technologies including video cameras, email and tracking devices with the introduction of the Workplace Surveillance Bill 2005 to state parliament today.

"While some employers argue that this is necessary to protect their legitimate interests, employees expect that their private correspondence, like their private telephone calls or private conversations, should never be the subject of secret monitoring," NSW Attorney General Bob Debus said in a statement today.

"We don't tolerate employers unlawfully placing cameras in change rooms and toilets.

"Likewise, we should not tolerate unscrupulous employers snooping into the private emails of workers."

read more