EXPLAINER: Can your employer legally monitor your office laptop?

The monitoring by an employer of the activities of an employee through the latter's office-issued computer or laptop isn't an automatic violation of the Data Privacy Act, the National Privacy Commission has said.

Citing NPC Advisory Opinion No. 2018-084 issued in 2018, the commission on Tuesday said an employer monitoring an employee through the office-issued gadget may do so subject to "general data privacy principles of transparency, legitimate purpose, and proportionality set by the DPA."

In particular, if the employer wants to monitor an employee's computer activities, they must satisfy these three conditions:

• Transparency: They cannot do it in secret. You must be informed that monitoring is happening.
• Legitimate Purpose: They need a valid reason, such as cybersecurity or tracking work productivity. They can’t just do it because they feel like it.
• Proportionality: They cannot be "extra." The monitoring method must be necessary to achieve the goal, not overly intrusive.

Moreover, the NPC said there is a limit to how much an employer can monitor.

It said that using software that does the following is usually considered “excessive and a violation of one's privacy”:

• Recording your keystrokes (keyloggers): This is dangerous because it can capture your passwords, banking info, and personal chats.
• Taking random photos/screenshots of your screen: This is generally too intrusive.

–NB, GMA News