Workers warned of spies in the office

ALL STAFF using computers should now assume that they are being monitored, a London conference on electronics and privacy was told yesterday.

Workplace surveillance techniques are on the increase, said Michael Ford, a barrister and visiting fellow at the London School of Economics.

Some employers use closed-circuit television, drug testing, interception of private mail and psychometric questionnaires, Mr Ford told the conference, organised by the research group Income Data Services (IDS).

In Britain, staff at telephone call centres were the subject of most scrutiny. In America, some firms tested potential employees for genetic defects which might predispose them to illnesses affecting their work.

Mr Ford said there was no fundamental right to privacy, but bosses must beware divulging confidential information.

Robert Pullen of IDS warned office workers to beware cracking jokes or making derogatory comments via internal e-mail.

Office humorists can infringe sex and race discrimination laws or find themselves accused of libel, he said. In one recent case the financial group Norwich Union paid pounds 450,000 to a rival firm because of allegedly defamatory internal e-mails.

Mr Pullen also gave warning that Internet users were increasingly open to litigation.