Social media and the employee's right to privacy in Australia

• Published in: International data privacy law 2014-08, Vol.4 (3), p.222-234
• Main Author: van Dissel, B. M. P.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Employee behavior; Employees; Employers; Employment contracts; Employment policies; Labor law; Right of privacy; Social interaction; Social networks; Studies; Working hours
• ISSN: 2044-3994; 2044-4001
• DOI: 10.1093/idpl/ipu015

This article focuses on Australian employment law and considers how social media affects Australian employees and their right to privacy outside work hours. Facebook posts can encourage out-of-hours bonding between employees but they can create controversy and conflict in the workplace. The dynamic nature of forwarding comments and the pervasiveness of social media raises many legal questions for further exploration, and in particular whether special legal privacy protection should be devised to guide employees and employers in their application of workplace obligations for out-of-hours technology use. One primary purpose of employment law is to redress the imbalance between vulnerable employees and more powerful employers in their contractual relationships. Recent research revealed that Australian employees know their duties and are able to apply these duties to new technologies, whereas Australian employers are less familiar with their rights online and infrequently exercise them. The article concludes that there is therefore a need to develop and implement legal privacy protections that address the nature of social media.