Is sound recording at work legal?
Is sound recording at work legal?
Sound recording is an option that every company considers at a certain time, for example, when it wants to install a video surveillance system or when actions are considered to verify compliance with labor obligations and duties by workers.
We have already addressed in other articles, the obligations that any company has in terms of data protection, when deciding to use video surveillance cameras in their workplace and the ability of the company to control workers, as provided in Article 20.3 of the Statute of Workers, but this time we will analyze the capture of sounds in the workplace.
Sound pickup in the workplace
Video surveillance systems record images but they also usually include the option of recording sounds and in the latter case it is necessary to be very careful, since recording the conversations of workers, customers or any other person would not be allowed in principle, although there are exceptions.
Art. 89.3 of the Organic Law on Data Protection and Guarantee of Digital Rights, 3/2018, of December 5(LOPD-GDD) states.
as the only exception where the collection of sounds would be considered legal, this being when there are significant risks to the safety of workers or facilities derived from the work activity being carried out.
In addition to the above, sounds may only be recorded provided that the principle of proportionality, the principle of minimum intervention and other guarantees provided for in this Law are respected, being necessary the completion of a Weighting Judgment report, which legally supports it.
Outside of this situation, any sound recording would be outside the framework of the law, and could be punishable.
Real case
The Superior Court of Justice of Castilla La Mancha, Social Chamber, ruled on the issue of sound recordings in the workplace, in its recent judgment STSJ CL 1974/2024, dated May 2 of this year.
This Court analyzed a dismissal of a worker derived from the information obtained from the security cameras of the employer’s facilities, where not only the images were captured, but also the sound.
It should be noted that in this case, the workers were aware of the existence of the cameras because the video surveillance signs displayed in the company were visible; however, they were never informed of the sound recording by these cameras.
In the case under analysis, the dismissal of the worker took place upon viewing the images and consulting the video, being that the company could not install sound in the recording devices, since the activity carried out by the company could not be considered of high risk for the workers, facilities or work activity, because it was a hairdressing salon, as well as the duty to inform had not been duly complied with, so the Court considered that the evidence presented by the plaintiff justifying the dismissal was obtained illegitimately and violated the worker’s right to privacy, declaring the dismissal null and void.
AEPD’s position
The AEPD has stated on multiple occasions, not only through its resolutions, but also through its Legal Reports and other resources, such as the basic infographics by subject that it publishes on its official website, that video recordings must comply with the provisions of the Law.
Already in its Legal Report 09-2019 it pointed out that indiscriminate recordings of voice and conversations of employees and the general public did not comply with the principle of proportionality required in the LOPDGDD, consequently, this measure was considered intrusive to the privacy and data protection rights of those affected.
Similarly, in its Practical Sheet on Video Surveillance Cameras for Workplace Monitoring, it specifies in the “Installation” section that “Private conversations will not be recorded”.
The same position has been upheld in different resolutions (e-06866-2021, ps-00178-2022).
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The recording of the voice, rather than the image, can be a controversial issue and if you need us to help you prepare a weighting trial report, contact us by email: info@businessadapter.es, you can also call 96 131 88 04, or leave your message in this form:
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