Good to Have Someone Watching Us from a Distance? Privacy vs. Security at the Workplace Dodig-Crnkovic G. and Horniak V. Department of Computer Science and Engineering Mälardalen University Västerås, Sweden gordana.dodig-crnkovic@mdh.se vhk99001@student.mdh.se Abstract A characteristic of private is that it is not official. Nevertheless, we expect a certain degree of privacy even in the most official situations. Privacy is a fundamental human right recognized in all major international agreements regarding human rights such as Article 12 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (United Nations, 1948). But just how much privacy can we expect at the workplace, where in some cases we may be subject to surveillance? One part of the problem is the tendency toward ubiquitous computing, which means that we are more and more immersed in an environment of computing devices which may be used for surveillance purposes. A work place today can be any place with an internet connection, such as the airport or the hotel room. How can private and official be distinguished in such circumstances? We are at present in a period in which intense work is in progress all over the world in improving the privacy legislation, best practices, and technologies. A process of continuous interaction and dialogue is necessary to achieve a socio-technological system which will guarantee the highest standards of privacy protection. Our conclusion is that trust must be established in the use of ICT (information and communication technology), where both users and the technology will be trustworthy. Moreover, this trust must be established globally because the data contained in networked computers virtually knows no boundaries. This in the first place presupposes the informed consent of all the parties involved. Keywords: Privacy, Cyberethics, Ethics of Trust, Legitimate by design, Disclosive ethics, Intentional design for democracy. INTRODUCTION Official is often understood to be the opposite of private. However, even in the most official situations a certain basic level of privacy is usually maintained. A workplace is an example of an official place. How much privacy do we have the right to expect in our offices? Can electronic methods of monitoring and surveillance be ethically justified? We present a critical analysis of the idea of privacy protection versus surveillance or monitoring of employees, based on the data from different cultures with a wide range of practices. One important aspect of the problem of privacy at the workplace is the trend toward the disappearance of boundaries between private and professional life, when working hours are no longer fixed, when people work at their laptop computers at all places imaginable, following the trend toward the ubiquitous use of the computer. Ubiquitous computing is the third wave, now beginning, in the use of