Workplace Computers and Employee Privacy Rights

The Supreme Court of Canada recently released the decision of R. v. Cole about whether a teacher had a reasonable expectation of privacy in personal materials stored on a work-issued laptop. The issue in this case was whether the police had breached section 8 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms when it viewed the contents of the teacher's laptop and created a mirror image of the hard drive for forensic purposes without a warrant. Section 8 of the Charter guarantees the right of everyone in Canada to be secure against unreasonable search or seizure.

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