Romania – Newsflash
DON’TS
โ๏ธ the employer failed to argue the ๐ด๐ค๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ถ๐ณ๐ท๐ฆ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ activity and why other alternatives (less intrusive) were not taken into consideration โ in the reviewed documentation, the employer claimed security issues as the reasoning for its surveillance system;
โ๏ธ the employer failed to present the reasoning behind the installation of the cameras in ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ค๐ช๐ง๐ช๐ค ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฌ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด โ the cameras were also installed in offices, several employees’ activity being constantly recorded;
โ๏ธ the employer failed to present proof regarding the observance of the ๐ฏ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด prescribed by Law no. 190/2018 (among which we mention prior consultation of the trade union/employee representatives in relation to the implementation of the envisaged surveillance system).
The Romanian Supervisory Authority has recently announced the sanctioning of an employer for not complying with the legal conditions in relation to the CCTV system installed in the workplace.ย
SANCTION: The employer was sanctioned with a fine of EUR 4,000
At EU level, however, the fines set in relation to the unlawful use of surveillance systems have been even higher. Among the highest is the one imposed by the Lower Saxony Data Protection Authority in 2021 and which was set at EUR 10.4 million.ย
In both cases the video monitoring was done without a proper legal basis (i.e. the presented scope was to prevent theft and other criminal offenses and to track the flow of goods). Moreover, the surveyed places were heavily trafficked by employees, as well as clients, in some situations, employees being continuously recorded during work.
DO’S
โ๏ธ ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ณ๐ ๐น๐ฒ๐ด๐ฎ๐น ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ โ evaluate the lawfulness of the pursued scope by the surveillance system. As illustrated in the case above, security purposes are not a sufficient reasoning by themself for installing such surveillance systems;
โ๏ธ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐๐๐น๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ โ the employer must consult with the trade union/employee representatives in relation to the implementation of CCTV systems;
โ๏ธ ๐ถ๐ป๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐บ โ surveyed areas should be signalled in advance, prior to data subjects entering them;
โ๏ธ ๐ฒ๐๐๐ฎ๐ฏ๐น๐ถ๐๐ต ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ โ draft policies describing the processing operations and the access to such recordings.
Do you have questions on this topic? Contact our experts at Suciu – Employment and Data Protection Lawyers and get more information on what you can and cannot do!
