Employees’ right to data protection reflecting their activities in the internet

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has made working from home in Vietnam become popular than ever. With the development of digital technology, employees can now work from home without going to the workplace. In addition, employers can perform their management and supervision rights by using remote monitoring software such as ActivTrak or HubStaff. According to a survey by TechRepublic and ExpressVPN, 78% of 2000 users responded that they use software to track employee activities. The result raises the question of whether the employee's right to protect personal data has been put under the management of the employer? Within the scope of this article, the author focuses on analyzing one of the contents of Personal data, which is data that reflects employees' activities or history of internet activities. It should be noted that labour relations are built on both trust and material elements. Therefore, ensuring the development of a healthy labour relationship will create a driving force for the development of the economy. Along with the global integration trend, this is likely to be an essential issue in the labour relationship because workers are more aware of the protection of data reflecting activities on the internet while performing their assigned tasks. In the context that Vietnam is increasingly integrating into globalization and gradually adapting to the 4.0 economy, the author believes that the right to data protection reflecting employee activities on the internet needs to be not only specifically recognized in the labour law but also gone along with the right to manage and supervise the use of the internet of the employer.