Substantial technology developments over the past two decades have dramatically transformed today’s workplaces. It became easier to perform work functions. However, these changes made employers to think about productive and effective working time usage in the electronic working place. Companies began to use electronic surveillance. The appliance of this equipment determined the appearance of legal problems. Hence the usage of control technologies brings the conflict among the interests of employer and employee. There arises necessity to decide to whose interests to give the preference. There is offered to seek the balance of the interests in order to retain the confidence and trustworthy atmosphere in the workplace. In fact, this is achieved when the fundamental data protection principles – legitimacy, transparency, proportionality and security – are being applied. The legal regulation of USA and European Union differently estimates the problem of the privacy in the electronic working place. The United States inclined to give the preference to business interests because employer posses the electronic equipment. Besides here the employer can use the provider exception. This shows that the employee in the United States can have no reasonable expectation of privacy in the electronic working place. However, in Europe the electronic surveillance is morally illegal and infringes the constitutional right of privacy. European Union values the data protection principles and the... [to full text]