Geolocation: continuous monitoring banned

The Personal Data Protection Authority issued Order no. 247/2017 in response to a request for preliminary verification, lodged by a company working in the field of refuse collection and concerning a system of geolocation installed on vehicles and mobile equipment used by employees. The aim of this system was to ensure a safer, more organised and productive working environment, in addition to ensuring the protection of company assets, and the company had acquired approval for their installation from the Territorial Labour Department. According to the Privacy Authority, it is forbidden to install a geolocation system which constantly monitors workers, even if the procedural guarantees under Art. 4 of the Workers’ Charter have been carried out. The Privacy Authority emphasised that control is lawful only in the case of predetermined events, about which the employees themselves must have been adequately informed. In addition, the Privacy Authority reasserted the fact that, with regard to the lawfully pursued aims, (i) only necessary, pertinent and non-excessive data can be processed and (ii) the period of storage of this data must be reasonable, except with regard to storage under any legal obligations relating to the Data Controller.