Barclays Probed by U.K. Privacy Agency for Snooping on Staff (1)

Barclays Plc faces a U.K. privacy investigation over software that checks on what staff are doing, the Information Commissioner’s Office said Monday.

“We have an ongoing investigation relating to Barclays’ alleged use of employee monitoring tools,” the ICO said in an emailed statement.

The probe was earlier reported by the Daily Telegraph, which said the bank used a Sapience Analytics program to study workers anonymously for 18 months.

While U.K. privacy rules don’t forbid companies monitoring employees electronically, people are entitled to a degree of privacy, the ICO said.

“If organizations wish to monitor their employees, they should be clear ...