Lisa Greenwood, an office administrator at the Department of Children, Schools and Families, posted an anonymous message on the internet at the height of the furore over abuse of the second home allowances.
It was traced to her work email account and the 38-year-old was initially suspended before being fired from her £16,000 post.
The comments were apparently posted at TheyWorkForYou, which is a site run by a charity. So how were the comments traced to Ms Greenwood? Just how closely are we being watched?