German online shop receives fine of 10.4 mio. Euro for unlawful video surveillance

13. January 2021

The State Commissioner for Data Protection of Niedersachsen (“LfD Niedersachsen) has imposed a fine of 10.4 mio. Euro on notebooksbilliger.de AG, a German online shop for notebooks.

According to the press release of the LfD Niedersachsen, dated 08.01.2021, notebooksbilliger.de had been video-monitoring its employees for at least two years, including  workplaces, sales rooms, warehouses and common areas, without a legal basis. Customers were also affected by the video surveillance, as some cameras were directed at seats in the sales area of the stationary stores.

Notebooksbilliger.de claimed that the cameras were intended to prevent and solve crimes and offences as well as track the flow of goods in the warehouses. In the opinion of the LfD Niedersachsen, a company must consider milder measures to prevent thefts such as random bag checks of the employees when leaving the premises. Moreover, video surveillance is only considered lawful, if there is reasonable suspicion against specific persons and only for a limited period of time. This was not the case at notebooksbilliger as the authority investigated. Additionally, the recordings of the video surveillance were stored for 60 days in many cases, which was significantly longer than necessary.

In the meantime, notebooksbilliger.de had set up the video surveillance lawfully and had proven that to the LfD Niedersachsen.

The fine is not yet legally binding. The company has appealed the fine and published a statement in this regard on its homepage. Notebooksbilliger.de considers the amount of the fine to be disproportionate to the financial strength of the company and defends itself against the statement that it systematically monitored the performance and behavior of its employees. According to the statement, the video system was at no time designed to monitor the behavior of employees or their performance. Futhermore, despite several invitations by notebooksbilliger.de, no one of the authority had spoken to employees in the company’s warehouses or dispatch centers.