But as Jock Encombe, an expert on organisational behaviour at Monitor, a consultancy, points out, there are more and more reasons to take it seriously.

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"We can monitor user behaviour - anonymising it of course - and then match advertising to it, " says Glen Drury.

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Businesses have sophisticated technology to monitor online behaviour, collect information about shopping habits and websites visited, and the services consumers have looked at.

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The Afghan government and Nato have put a number of measures in place to try to stop these attacks, including the deployment of hundreds of Afghan intelligence officers to monitor the behaviour of soldiers and recruits.

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The court in Rajasthan state directed the police to watch the footage regularly to "monitor" their behaviour.

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And if you thought Europeans flew the flag for privacy, 42% believe social network providers should get more information on people using their services before allowing use, while 49% think the authorities need more resources to monitor our online behaviour.

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The public will also be able to monitor the sharks' behaviour via a website.

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Unless the public can monitor a fund's behaviour, there is no guarantee public money will be invested efficiently.

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The LACS has listed numerous cases of hunt monitors being attacked, such as Christopher Marles, who was convicted of deliberately using his horse to knock a hunt monitor to the ground, and gamekeeper Richard Clarke, who was found guilty of assault and threatening behaviour.

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