Interessenausgleich im Beschäftigtendatenschutz

Employee data protection continues to be a subject of intensely controversial debate. The blanket clause in Section 32 of the Federal Data Protection Act in particular has led to a number of difficulties in practice. The employer's interest in information and the employees' conflicting interest in confidentiality need to be brought into a reasonable balance. This paper proposes guidelines for an adequate reconciliation of interests and thus a resolution of the basic conflict in employee data protection. Going further into detail, the author highlights individual areas of conflict. May employers conduct Internet research about employees by means of search engines or social networks? Are employers allowed to control the Internet and email use of their staff? In answering these questions, the current legal situation as well as the present reform efforts on the national and European level, which have brought new impetus to the debate, will be evaluated.