Attorney Alessandro del Ninno delivered the specialist workshop entitled “Remote Monitoring of Employees: Privacy, Employment Law Safeguards and Technological Evolution”, focusing on the complex legal framework governing the use of digital workplace tools, employee monitoring systems and cybersecurity technologies in the employment context.

The workshop examined the interaction between data protection law, Italian employment legislation and the most recent decisions of the Italian Data Protection Authority (Garante per la protezione dei dati personali), with particular emphasis on the legal requirements for lawful processing, employers’ transparency obligations and the safeguards established under Article 4 of the Italian Workers’ Statute (Law No. 300/1970).

A significant part of the programme was devoted to the management of corporate email systems and other ICT tools provided to employees, addressing issues relating to email retention, backups, internet browsing logs, email metadata and the management of corporate accounts following the termination of the employment relationship. The workshop also analysed the latest decisions issued by the Italian Data Protection Authority, including Decision No. 165 of 12 March 2026, highlighting their practical implications and the interpretative issues arising from recent regulatory developments.

Adopting a practical and operational approach, the workshop further explored the drafting and implementation of internal policies, privacy notices and acceptable use policies governing corporate IT resources, as well as the role of Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIAs), proportionality assessments and the application of the principles of privacy by design and privacy by default. Particular attention was devoted to emerging cybersecurity and monitoring technologies, including Data Loss Prevention (DLP) systems, logging solutions, filtering technologies, e-discovery tools and cloud-based platforms, examining how organisations can reconcile the need to protect corporate assets and information security with employees’ fundamental rights, dignity and legitimate expectations of privacy.

The workshop provided participants with an up-to-date overview of the principal legal, regulatory and organisational challenges relating to employee monitoring, offering practical guidance and best practices for implementing compliant governance models for workplace monitoring and the lawful management of digital workplace technologies.