MD014Video surveillance of the workplace

The recording of images of places in which work is carried out.

Pillar: MD | Monitoring and detection
Sources cited: 11
Added: 30 AUGUST 2026
Updated: 20 SEPTEMBER 2026

Control	Jurisdiction	Source	What it establishes	Prerequisite or recommendation
MD014/EUMandatory	European Union	Regulation (EU) 2016/679, articles 5(2), 6, 9, 12, 15, 22, 35, and 88European Parliament and Council · read 11 Aug 2026Opinion 2/2017 on data processing at work (WP249)Article 29 Data Protection Working Party · read 11 Aug 2026	The grounds on which processing may rest, the burden of showing it, the categories whose processing is prohibited outright save on a named ground, what a person asking has to be told and by when, the limit on deciding about someone by machine alone, when an impact assessment is owed, and the leave each member state has to set its own employment rule.	A ground under article 6 has to be identified before anything is collected through the cameras, and whatever more specific rule the member state has made under article 88 applies on top of it. Consent is rarely that ground in an employment relationship, since it has to be freely given and the imbalance there makes that doubtful.
MD014/CoEMandatory	Council of Europe	López Ribalda and Others v. SpainEuropean Court of Human Rights, Grand Chamber · read 11 Aug 2026	That those criteria are weighed rather than counted, and that surveillance without notice can survive where a suspicion preceded it.	Cameras without notice have survived where a specific suspicion came first and the scope and duration were held tight. The criteria are weighed, not counted.
MD014/ATMandatory	Austria	Arbeitsverfassungsgesetz, sections 96 and 96aNationalrat · read 29 Aug 2026	That a control measure touching human dignity has no legal effect without the works council’s consent, and that consent for automated processing and for assessment systems can be replaced by a conciliation board while consent under section 96 cannot.	The works council’s consent is the condition of the cameras having legal effect, and the threshold is whether they touch human dignity.
MD014/FIMandatory	Finland	Laki yksityisyyden suojasta työelämässä (759/2004)Parliament of Finland · read 29 Aug 2026	One act for the whole subject, holding processing to what is directly necessary, naming the conditions for cameras and for opening the employer’s electronic mail, and putting technical monitoring through a cooperation procedure before it is introduced.	Cameras are for the security of persons, the protection of property, and the supervision of production, and may not be aimed at a particular employee outside three named cases, nor placed in lavatories, changing rooms, or rooms set aside for personal use. Less intrusive means are examined first, and a notice is displayed where the cameras are.
MD014/FRMandatory	France	Code du travail, articles L1121-1, L1222-4, and L2312-38République française · read 16 Aug 2026	Consultation of the social and economic committee before the decision, prior knowledge for the worker, and proportionality to the task.	The committee has to be informed and consulted before the decision to install the cameras, and the workers informed before they are recorded.
MD014/DEMandatory	Germany	Betriebsverfassungsgesetz, section 87(1)(6)Bundestag · read 16 Aug 2026	Co-determination by the works council over the introduction and the use of technical devices intended to monitor conduct or performance.	The works council has to agree before introducing the cameras, and again on the manner in which it is used.
MD014/ITMandatory	Italy	Legge 20 maggio 1970, n. 300, article 4Parliament of Italy · read 11 Aug 2026	That an instrument from which remote monitoring may follow is permitted only for stated purposes, and only after a union agreement or an authorization.	An agreement with the union representatives, or failing that an authorization from the labor inspectorate, is required before installing the cameras.
MD014/NLMandatory	Netherlands	Wet op de ondernemingsraden, article 27(1)(l)Staten-Generaal · read 16 Aug 2026	Consent of the works council for an arrangement directed at or merely suitable for observing presence, conduct, or performance.	The works council has to consent before any arrangement governing the cameras is adopted, amended, or withdrawn.
MD014/PLMandatory	Poland	Kodeks pracy, article 22(2)Sejm of the Republic of Poland · read 20 Sep 2026	That image recording at work is open for four purposes only, one of them keeping secret information whose disclosure could harm the employer, that its purposes, scope and manner are fixed in the collective agreement, the work regulations or an announcement, that it is notified two weeks before it starts and handed to each worker before they are admitted to work, and that recordings are kept three months.	Special supervision of the workplace, or of the area around it, by technical means recording images is open to the employer for four purposes and no others: the safety of workers, the protection of property, the control of production, and keeping secret information whose disclosure could expose the employer to harm. Sanitary rooms, changing rooms, canteens and smoking rooms are outside it unless it is indispensable for one of those purposes and will not violate the dignity or other personal rights of the worker, in particular through techniques preventing those present from being recognised.
MD014/ESMandatory	Spain	Ley Orgánica 3/2018, articles 87, 89, and 90Cortes Generales · read 16 Aug 2026	A right to privacy in employer-provided devices, and the express prior information owed before camera images or location data are processed.	Camera images may be processed for the control functions in article 20.3, on condition of express prior information to the workers and their representatives.