&gt; Some countries do not consider employment a right to total ownership of an employee<p>This isn&#x27;t about &quot;owning&quot; an employee, this is about owning the equipment which an employee uses against it&#x27;s explicit purpose (to conduct business).<p>I don&#x27;t think many would have an issue with an employee stepping out for a few minutes to handle a personal call. But many would have an issue with an employee phoning friends and chatting during regular business hours instead of doing their work.<p>The guy in the original story was chatting with friends while at work over MSN Messenger... instead of working.<p>&gt; And of course in several EU countries you&#x27;d be staring down a possible severe consequences for breach of privacy<p>That&#x27;s not true in this case. If you have a policy that prohibits personal use of company equipment, and another policy which states clearly all communications are recorded for business purposes, and it&#x27;s signed by the employee, then it&#x27;s really cut and dry.