Jobs chief aims to protect workers’ data

Date: 26/09/02

By Peter Chapman

EMPLOYMENT Commissioner Anna Diamantopoulou wants to introduce tough new rules to prevent employers from snooping on private data referring to their staff, such as medical records and genetic test results.

The Greek jobs chief, who will next month unveil her blueprint to businesses and trade unions, says that existing EU regulations fail to offer employees the protection they need from emerging threats to privacy.

These range from post-Enron and 9/11 security clamp-downs to the availability of hi-tech snooping technology and the trend for companies to hive off their data processing to outside contractors. Diamantopoulou's move coincides with a review of the EU data privacy directive by her single market counterpart, Frits Bolkestein.

Critics such as EU employers' group UNICE say there is no need for the Greek commissioner to take matters into her own hands and that a new law will just make it more complicated for companies to comply with the current system.

Andrew Fielding, spokesman for Diamantopoulou, told European Voice: 'The important message is that the employer-employee relationship is different and needs different treatment.

'Employers and employees have different boxing weights. This affects both how we form legal rules to prohibit certain types of data processing and rules on consent [to process data],' she added.

Under her plan, Diamantopoulou wants to make it 'materially tougher' for bosses to check up on or share sensitive data about their staff.

This could include genetic test data or medical results which could affect a person's chances of being hired or promoted and, worse, obtaining pension or life assurance cover from an insurance company.

Employers would also be forced to respect the privacy of personal emails sent or received on office computers but marked private or stored in a private folder - even if the company had a policy of monitoring messages or websites visited.

Data about political parties, religious beliefs and even race and gender would also be under strict control - though Diamantopoulou believes this would have to be balanced with the need for public bodies to keep track of possible discrimination against minorities.

Merely obtaining 'consent' before prying into data is not enough protection, she says, because staff risk the sack if they refuse to give their blessing - and job applicants might expect not to be hired.

Instead, firms must prove that any forms of data processing are 'relevant, necessary and proportionate' to their day-to-day business.

Under the EU's social lawmaking process, the so-called social partners could opt to develop their own data privacy code to avert a formal law.

But EU sources say opposition to the idea from one of the key stakeholders - UNICE - means Diamantopoulou is almost certain to unveil a draft directive early next year.

Employment Commissioner Anna Diamantopoulou wants to introduce tough new rules to prevent employers from snooping on private data referring to their staff, such as medical records and genetic test results.