With judgment no. 43873 of November 24, 2025, the Italian Supreme Court – Labor Division – confirmed the legitimacy of a dismissal for just cause imposed on an employee on the basis of GPS data collected from the company car, reiterating that such monitoring activities are admissible when they are aimed at verifying unlawful conduct.
In the case at hand, the employee was working as a security guard using a company car equipped with a satellite tracking system. Following reports from clients regarding service disruptions, the employer initiated checks to reconstruct how the service had been performed during working hours.
The analysis of the vehicle’s GPS data showed that, on three separate occasions and during his assigned shift, the employee had parked the vehicle and remained inside it, whereas the service report he had drafted stated that he had visited different locations during the same time periods. This discrepancy between the employee’s statements and the GPS data led the employer to initiate disciplinary proceedings, considering the conduct inconsistent with the required operating procedures. Moreover, the conduct was not an isolated incident but formed part of a repeated pattern of behaviour, previously sanctioned with conservative disciplinary measures. Based on these findings, the employer terminated the employment relationship for just cause.
The Court of Appeal upheld the dismissal, classifying the monitoring activities as defensive controls (i.e. checks aimed at detecting potentially unlawful conduct), thus excluding the applicability of Article 4 of Law no. 300/1970 (i.e. the Workers’ Statute), as the monitoring was aimed at verifying conduct potentially harmful to the organisation.
The Italian Supreme Court dismissed the employee’s appeal and confirmed this approach, reiterating that employers may legitimately use technological tools, such as GPS systems installed on company vehicles, when the monitoring is targeted, proportionate, and justified by the need to verify conduct that goes beyond the mere supervision of work performance.
The Court further clarified that determining whether such monitoring is aimed at detecting unlawful conduct, rather than surveilling work performance, is a factual assessment reserved to the lower courts and not subject to review on appeal, provided the reasoning is coherent. In this case, the appellate court found that the employee’s conduct was incompatible with the duties of fairness and loyalty and significantly damaged the relationship of trust.
In conclusion, this ruling confirms that GPS data collected from a company vehicle may legitimately ground a dismissal for just cause when the monitoring pursues defensive purposes and is aimed at determining conduct inconsistent with contractual obligations, without resulting in generalised surveillance of work performance.
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On January 16, 2025, the Italian Data Protection Authority (i.e. “Garante per la protezione dei dati personali”) issued a decision, publicly disclosed through its institutional newsletter on March 21, 2025, imposing a fine of €50,000 on a transport company for unlawfully monitoring approximately 50 employees using a GPS system installed in company vehicles. The Authority identified several violations following the receipt of a complaint filed by a former employee, who (i) complained about not having received the information required under Article 13 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (the “Regulation”) on personal data protection, and (ii) reported the failure of the employer to activate the guarantee procedure as required under Article 4 of Law No. 300/1970 (i.e. “Workers Statute” or in Italian parlance “Statuto dei Lavoratori”).
The investigation revealed that the GPS system had been installed for the protection of company assets, workplace safety, and organizational and production needs, as indicated in the authorization request submitted to the relevant Territorial Labor Inspectorate (i.e. “ITL”). Specifically, the system allowed the Company to acquire information about the vehicle’s location, its status (on or off), telemetry data, and indirectly, the drivers’ activities. This information was continuously collected by the system, though delayed by 3/5 minutes, and included work breaks. All data were retained for a period of 180 days.
Based on the findings, the Italian Data Protection Authority observed that:
In summary, the data processing was conducted in violation of both privacy regulations and the authorization granted, thereby contravening the principle of lawfulness of processing.
Considering the numerous and serious violations identified, the Authority imposed a €50,000 fine on the company and ordered it to provide proper notification to employees and to align its GPS data practices with the guarantees prescribed in the authorization issued by the Territorial Labor Inspectorate.
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