The Italian Garante issued Order No. 178, which fined an Italian automotive business € 3,000 for unlawful employee monitoring.
In short:
Following a report filed by the Guardia di Finanza, the Italian Garante issued Order No. 178, which fined an Italian automotive business € 3,000. The Authority discovered 14 closed-circuit television cameras installed both inside and outside the company’s facilities, allowing employees’ activities to be remotely watched
The Authority considered that the business cooperated during the inquiry and swiftly removed the cameras and erased the stored images when determining the fine. The Garante ordered that the judgment be posted on the company’s website and that employees receive an appropriate privacy notice.
Background
The Garante said, in particular, that the financial police had investigated Zito Auto, where it discovered 14 operational CCTV cameras positioned inside and outside the company’s grounds, allowing remote monitoring of personnel’ actions.
The Garante findings
The Garante determined that the fact that employees had been individually informed of the presence of the closed-circuit television cameras was insufficient, referencing Article 5 of the GDPR, which states that consent is not an adequate legal basis for the processing of employees’ personal data in the workplace.
Furthermore, the Garante concluded that employee monitoring measures did not meet the legal requirements of Law No. 300 of 1970, the ‘Statuto dei lavoratori’ (Italian legislation governing workers’ rights).
Based on the evidence, the Garante concluded that Zito Auto’s processing of personal data via CCTV cameras violates Articles 5(1)(a) and 5(1)(c) of the GDPR, as well as Article 114 of the Code.
The Garante issued an administrative fee in light of the nature of the articles breached, taking into account, among other things, the fact that Zito Auto had cooperated in the course of the investigation and had swiftly removed the CCTV cameras and deleted the photographs saved.
Outcome
The Garante imposed the previously indicated fine of € 3,000 against Zito Auto and ordered:
- the judgment will be published on its website; and
- Zito Auto will provide employees with an adequate privacy notice.
Lastly, the Garante stated that Zito Auto has:
- 30 days to settle the disagreement by paying half of the fine imposed, and
- it may also file an appeal within the same timeframe.
The official decision can be found here (in Italian).
