WinWhatWhere chief rejects human rights violation

NEWS The employee privacy rights debate took a bizarre turn today when the developer of the controversial WinWhatWhere software, Richard Eaton, answered civil liberties campaigners who have criticised his product for curbing human rights. The software, called Investigator 2.0, allows an employer to monitor every keystroke made at a workstation. It is intended to guard against time wasting or illegal activity. The product hit the headlines last week both because it potentially gives hackers an easy way to grab passwords and also because of the human rights implications. In response to the human rights infringement, Eaton said employees hand in their rights to privacy, along with their hat and coat, as soon as they enter the workplace. According to Eaton: "In an employer's environment there really is no expectation of privacy. Employees should not expect this." When pushed for a position on Eaton's response, The Institute of Personnel and Development (IPD) - the trade association for all personnel professionals and the employee relations advisor to the Confederation of British Industry -today agreed with him. Mike Emmott, IPD advisor, said: "I substantially agree with [Eaton's comments] but the courts will be applying legislation on human rights which does give everybody a right to privacy. The courts will have to struggle with establishing what privacy means in the workplace." But Caspar Bowden of the Foundation for Information Policy Research was strongly opposed to it. He said: "Mr Eaton may be unaware of the strong legal protection provided to individuals under the European Data Protection Directive and the European Convention for Human Rights, which are fully applicable." Eaton went on to argue that the software doesn't necessarily infringe on human rights if the companies make their employees aware they're being monitored. The program is visible by default, said Eaton, who has incorporated a display system to show when it's live.