Remote work created a monitoring explosion — activity trackers, screenshot software, keystroke loggers, webcam check-ins. Some of it is legal. Some of it isn't. The line between legitimate employer oversight and illegal surveillance of your home life has never mattered more. Here's exactly where it sits.
Specialized in employee privacy rights, workplace surveillance law, and remote work disputes.
In most jurisdictions — only if you were told about it. In Quebec, disclosure of monitoring is legally required. In Ontario, the employer's written electronic monitoring policy must describe what monitoring occurs. In France, employees and the works council must be informed before deployment. If the screenshot software was installed without any disclosure — check whether your employment contract or any policy document references electronic monitoring. If it doesn't, file a complaint with the relevant privacy authority: the Commission d'accès à l'information (Quebec), the Privacy Commissioner (federal Canada), the ICO (UK), or the CNIL (France).
This is a contested area. Requiring a webcam during scheduled meetings is generally acceptable. Requiring the webcam to be on continuously throughout the entire workday — effectively live-streaming your home environment — raises significant privacy concerns in most jurisdictions. In Canada, continuous webcam surveillance would need to meet the proportionality test under privacy legislation. In France, it would need CNIL compliance. In the UK, ICO guidance indicates continuous monitoring raises serious privacy concerns. If the requirement captures your home environment, family members, or personal activities — this is particularly problematic and worth raising with your employer and a lawyer.
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