November 2000 saw reports the security firm, ADT, taken to court by their staff who allege that their human rights have been breached. Their grievance centres around the fact that the security vehicles in which they travel (presumably when carrying cash and valuable items) are tracked, via radio or satellite.

They are not the only ones. In some areas of the country ambulances and other emergency vehicles are tracked to see where they are and to estimate times of arrival at urgent incidents. Quite probably other employers will be tracking their equipment, vehicles or staff. Do any of these activities have any implications for human rights?

The starting point must be to ascertain if the employer is a public authority. Are they a 'person certain of whose functions are of a public nature'. Ambulances and their staff undoubtedly do undertake public functions, but do security vehicles and their staff? If they are undertaking deliveries under a private contract between two businesses, where is the public service element of that activity?

This differentiation is important because if an employer is a public authority then they have human rights obligations. Private employers do not. However, life is rarely that simple and in the field of human rights in this country, it has just become more complicated.

Employees are people. People now have human rights and freedoms. Since 2nd October when the Human Rights Act 1998 came into force, individuals who feel that their human rights have been breached can go to an English Court or Tribunal to enforce their human rights. They no longer have to undertake the laborious task of taking their case to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

In the Human Rights Act, the only public authorities named are 'all Courts and Tribunals'. Section 6 of the Act states that 'It is unlawful for a public authority to act in a way which is incompatible with a Convention right'. Thus, any Court or tribunal hearing the case of the employees against ADT will have to act in a way which is compatible with their Convention rights. So, although the Company may well be a private one, the Human Rights Act and the European Convention on Human Rights will impact on it when it is taken to a Court or Tribunal.

So, which human right is at stake here and can a public authority track its equipment and people? Article 8 of the European Convention says as a starting point that 'Everyone has the right to respect for his private and family life, his home and his correspondence', which indicates a right to privacy. However, there is a second paragraph to Article 8 which limits the scope and effect of the first paragraph. It says that a public authority should not interfere except 'in the interests of national security, public safety or the economic well-being of the country, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals, or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others.'

Ambulances assist those in need of medical care. The theft of an ambulance is undoubtedly a crime, and would inhibit the delivery of healthcare in the future and so affect the rights and freedoms of others. It is quite possible that the security industry is engaged in activity which is also designed to prevent crime and disorder, so the firm can demonstrate a need to know where their staff are and where their vehicles can be located. The only issue is whether when they are doing this, the firm is acting as a public authority. If it is, one avenue open to them is to ask their employees to agree to being monitored. Many businesses do this in a range of commercial activities. Staff know they are being watched or listened to, and agree, usually by a term of their contract of employment.

So, employers need be aware that tracking equipment, vehicles and staff has a human rights consequence. Employees have already shown that they know this and will take steps to enforce what they perceive to be their rights. Careful consideration of this issue is now needed in the field of surveillance and tracking.

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