Processing of Employees Biometric Data in Employment Legal Relations

Description

The aim of this article is to analyse whether the employer has the right to process the employee's biometric data in employment legal relations. General Data Protection Regulation sets special conditions regarding the processing of biometric data, which determine only very limited situations when this type of personal data may be legally processed. In order to process biometric data in employment legal relations, it is necessary to evaluate both the relations between the employer and the employee, which are mostly evaluated as subordinate relations, as well as the compatibility of the legal relations with the legal basis on which the data processing is carried out.. In the article, the author uses methods of interpretation of legal acts - grammatical method, systemic interpretation method as well as teleological interpretation method in order to analyse the legal regulation of personal data processing in employment legal relationship.. The processing of biometric data in employment legal relations is carried out for various purposes, e.g., to provide access to the employer's premises, to provide unique access to the devices issued to the employee, as well as for other purposes. The employer is obliged to evaluate whether it is not possible to achieve the purpose using other technological means, so that the processing of the employee's biometric data does not have to be carried out, taking into account that biometric data provides unique personal identification.. The article reveals that despite the fact that in specific situations the employer is entitled to process the employee's biometric data, in order to ensure legitimate data processing,  several circumstances must be evaluated, as well as the influence of the principle of subordination of the employer and the employee on the processing of such personal data, for example, obtaining the employee's consent to data processing.

Period	29 Mar 2023
Event title	RSU Research week 2023: PLACES
Event type	Conference
Conference number	3
Organiser	Rīga Stradiņš University
Location	Rīga, LatviaShow on map
Degree of Recognition	International