Your boss knows you're reading this

CBC reports on a new study on workplace privacy, suggesting not only that violations taking place, but that managers responsible for employee privacy often aren't even aware of those violations:

Canadian employers in a wide range of industries conduct surveillance of employees at work, suggests a report to be released on Monday...

Employers view closed-circuit television cameras, listen to recorded phone calls, monitor e-mails and scan magnetic information from security passes, said lead author Avner Levin...

Human resources executives responsible for workplace privacy often have little knowledge of the potential intrusiveness of technologies at work in their own companies, he said.

They rarely know what information is being collected by colleagues running company computer systems, he said.

"The executives that are responsible for privacy in the workplace are not fully aware of the extent of ... the surveillance activity that is conducted," he said.

It doesn't come as too much surprise to know that some workplace surveillance takes place. But given an employee's right to at least know what kind of information is collected and why, it's a serious problem if the managers appointed to deal with privacy issues are themselves being kept in the dark.

The study will hopefully spur a few more employers to direct attention to their responsibility to respect employee privacy. But in the longer term, increased attention can only go so far, and a privacy law with more teeth than the current one may be needed in order to protect both employees and customers alike.