The employer's remote control and respect for the employee's right to privacy (again) in the spotlight of the ECJ: Gramaxo v. Portugal

Abstract

The balance between the workers’ right to privacy and the employer’s legitimate interest in exercising remote control by means of Gps tracking was submitted to the European Court of Human Rights in the case Gramaxo c. Portugal. Taking into account the Court’s previous judicial decision as a starting point, this contribution will analyse the effects on domestic law of the rules on remote control and personal data protection, also with reference to geolocation data, with the aim of highlighting the changing nature of the limits imposed to the employers’ interests by the European Court of Human Rights.

Keywords

• privacy at workplace
• remote control
• geolocation
• balancing test
• respect for private life