OD100: "You're on company-time, flying company-owned equipment. The CVR belongs to the company. If they want to monitor it, have at it. No different than company-monitoring of any piece of equipment they are providing you (i.e., laptop, cell-phone, etc...).
Simple as that."
My thoughts exactly. Why is it that some pilots believe that their profession should be the exception? They have great responsibility for the lives of others, with which should come commensurate obligations and restrictions as well as benefits.
Of course it's a rhetorical question, enough pilots do not conceal their motives to leave any doubt. This thread teaches that industrial relations in the profession are even worse than one imagined, to the point that for some, distrust and hostility are driving the thinking. Very sad.