According to Olga Popova, chief lawyer for information security at Kontur.Egida and an IT security expert, employers often infringe upon the digital privacy of their employees. In an interview, she outlined three key methods to avoid surveillance.
«We start with the simplest point – you need to understand the environment in which you are working. If the company uses a monitoring system, it`s important to know exactly what it tracks: screen activity, messages, connected devices? Most people don`t ask this question. These details should be documented in the employment contract or internal regulations, but in practice, almost nobody reads them, even though they specify where your personal space ends at work,» the IT expert explained.
The second point involves clear boundaries, Popova stated. She noted that understanding your own tasks, schedule, and areas of responsibility is crucial not just for efficiency but also for protection.
When everything is clearly defined, there are fewer reasons for doubt and additional control. From experience, I can say: employers often start `observing` when they are unsure what an employee is occupied with.
The third rule is that personal life should remain personal, the lawyer emphasized. She clarified that a work computer is not the place for family photos, personal correspondence, and especially not social media passwords.
«Very often, problems arise not because of malicious intent, but simply because a person saved a document so they wouldn`t forget. But then these files go to the cloud, get into backups – and access to personal data is no longer under control,» Popova shared.
She urged using separate profiles or at least separate browsers for work and personal matters. This reduces the risk of accidental data leakage or the intersection of personal and corporate information, the expert explained. The lawyer also advised against saving passwords in the browser or, even worse, in notepads on the desktop. Password managers are more reliable, she stressed.
«A little legal awareness doesn`t hurt either. An employer cannot monitor you indefinitely – personal data, correspondence, and private life are protected by law. If you have doubts, don`t hesitate to ask HR or lawyers for a copy of the regulations or clarify how and why monitoring is conducted. In accordance with law No. 152-FZ, you have this right,» Popova concluded.
