Monitoring employees with cameras at work: what to keep in mind

Whose data is in an employee camera recording?

A camera sees a customer for a few minutes, but an employee for hours every day. That is why the person a workplace camera records the most is usually the employee. An employee's image is also personal data under Personal Data Protection Law No. 6698, and the employer is the controller of this data.

The law does not require explicit consent in every case. There are other conditions listed in the law for processing data; the employer's legitimate interest is one of them. However, this condition depends on not harming the employee's fundamental rights and freedoms. Determine which condition you will rely on with an expert; making everything depend on a consent form can put you in a difficult position when the employee withdraws their consent.

What should the purpose of the camera be?

Purposes such as security, preventing theft and fire, and investigating work accidents can be defended. Investigating a cash difference at the register, goods leaving the warehouse or an accident on the production line with footage falls within this framework.

The problem starts the moment the camera begins to be used beyond its original purpose. Using a camera installed for security to count how many minutes someone takes for a break, or to watch how many times they look at their phone, may not be compatible with the proportionality principle. If you need attendance tracking, do it with less intrusive tools such as card access or a staff attendance control system.

Proportionality means not collecting more data than is needed to reach the purpose. If you have cash differences at the register, a camera facing the register serves that purpose. Recording the whole office, the corridor and the rest area for the same purpose is more than needed. If you can answer the question "which risk would I fail to see without this camera?" before adding a camera, you are on the right track.

Expert note: When you install the camera, write its purpose in one sentence. If one day you want to open these recordings for a matter that does not fit that sentence, ask your legal adviser first.

Which areas are out of scope?

Do not place cameras in places such as toilets, showers, changing rooms, nursing rooms and prayer areas. Unless you have a strong security reason for the rest room, dining hall and tea kitchen, keep these areas out of scope as well.

In offices where people work at desks, a camera angled to see the screens and keyboard carries a separate risk: passwords, customer information and private correspondence end up on the recording. Pointing the office camera at the entrance and the corridor is often enough for the security purpose.

State the areas you leave out of scope in the privacy notice as well. Employees knowing in which areas no recording is made contributes to an atmosphere of trust in the workplace and reduces possible complaints.

• Entrance, exit and emergency exit doors
• Register and cash counting point
• Warehouse, shipping dock, valuable goods shelves
• Parking lot and the building perimeter
• Machines and production line (for occupational safety purposes)

How should employees be informed?

A sign hung at the entrance informs customers, but it is not enough for employees. Give the employee a written privacy notice explaining where the cameras are, for what purpose recordings are made, how long the recording is kept and who can access it, and document that they received it with a signature.

Give new hires this notice together with their hiring paperwork. Update the notice when you add a camera or move one. A hidden camera is one of the hardest practices to defend in a workplace; even if a reason for a special investigation arises, get legal support before taking any step.

Write the notice in plain language. An employee will sign a text full of legal terms and many pages long without reading it, and it will not achieve its purpose of informing. Adding a simple sketch showing where the cameras are makes the text understandable and reduces the later objection of "I didn't know."

Audio recording and viewing from a phone

Many cameras have a microphone, and it may be turned on at the factory setting. Audio recording also captures conversations among employees and is considered more intrusive than video. If video is enough for your purpose, turn the microphone off. If there is a situation where you need audio, evaluate it separately with the legal department.

Live viewing by the employer from a phone is technically easy but causes two problems: if the phone is lost or shared, the recordings are exposed, and constant live viewing shifts the camera's purpose from security to monitoring. Limit who can access the app and set up accounts per person.

Using recordings in a disciplinary process

When there is a shortage at the register or a loss in the warehouse, the recording can be reviewed. Keep a written record of who did this review, which date range was looked at and which footage was exported. Do not share the footage in WhatsApp groups; share it only with the people involved in the process and only as much as needed.

How recordings will be evaluated as evidence in a labor lawsuit depends on the specific case. Instead of making a general assumption in advance, act together with your legal adviser when the incident happens.

Expert note: This article describes the general framework and is not a substitute for legal advice. Prepare your employee monitoring policy and privacy notice by consulting your organization's legal department or an expert working in labor and KVKK law.

What can be done technically during installation?

Using cameras for occupational safety in production facilities can be assessed separately. A camera facing a press or forklift zone helps you understand how an accident happened and makes it easier to learn lessons to prevent similar accidents. State this camera too, together with its purpose, in the privacy notice.

Approving camera angles on a plan, masking areas that see desks and screens, turning off microphones, creating role-based users on the recorder and keeping the retention period the same as in your policy are things that can be done on the installation day.

In workplace installations, Desa Bilişim records these settings in the handover report; the employer knows in writing which camera sees what.

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