Airbus Spies on Staff Bank Accounts

Now, that's wonderful! After governments, other governments, law enforcement agencies, parents, spouses, thieves and terrorists, companies have also felt the itch to poke their noses into people's private lives. Let us have a look at the shameless story first:

Airbus has admitted it probed staff's bank details in Germany between 2005 and 2007, as part of an attempt to check for potential procurement fraud.

The aircraft manufacturer conducted an internal investigation into employees' personal accounts to see if they matched those of vendors.

An Airbus spokesman said the probe was legal at the time and aimed to uncover any corruption to give the company a "clean bill of health". No wrongdoing was found.

Clean bill of health? Only the employees whose bank accounts were scrutinized surely deserve it. But Airbus? No. This is the lamest excuse I have ever heard. You can not and should not make a sweep of everyone's bank accounts to check for potential procurement fraud. If you have reasonable doubt that somebody played foul and dirty, you notify the DA's office and they handle it provided that a judge agrees with your reasoning. What would you do if a concerned citizen hacked into your building or computer systems to give you a clean bill of health? What if he or she, as a frequent flyer, wanted to make sure if you did your due diligence in your latest aircraft design?

Susan Singleton, solicitor at Singletons, said if organizations made it clear to staff in contracts that their bank details will be used for other purposes, then it is legal in the UK to carry out such investigations.

Really? Maybe so. Ethical? Definitely not. Since Ms. Singleton is a lawyer and I am not, I can take her word for granted and assume that such an investigation is legal. But I still doubt enforcing such clauses in an employment contract will hold up in a law of court. I think, I hope, it will not.

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