Recent technologies can be helpful in detecting or preventing the loss of company property, improving the productivity of employees and protecting the personal data for which the data controller is responsible, but with it also comes a significant privacy and data protection risk. Companies should consider conducting an assessment concerning the balance between the legitimate interest of the employer to protect its business and the privacy of the employees. Article 88 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) provides that European Union (EU) member states may provide for more specific rules to ensure protection. Employers must inform employees on the existence of any monitoring systems and, where online tools are used to process personal data, should consider enabling employees to designate certain private spaces to which he or she may not gain access under any circumstances.
