The geolocation of employees is a good example of the trivialization of new technologies within the company: it is a process allowing to determine the geographical position of an individual or an object at a specific time. This system has been subject to strict regulation by CNIL.

THE BASIC CONDITIONS OF THE GEOLOCATION OF EMPLOYEES

The first condition is essential: the employer can install a geolocation device only for a certain specific purpose. Thus, it is only possible for the employer to install such a system in the following cases:

• Monitor, justify and invoice a passenger transport service;
• Ensure the safety of the employee, goods or vehicles for which the employee is responsible;
• Better allocate resources for services to be performed in dispersed places;
• Track an employee’s working time, but only if this is not possible by any other means, even less efficient;
• Comply with a legal or regulatory obligation to use geolocation;
• Check compliance with the rules for using a vehicle provided by the employer.

The employer must also respect a principle of proportionality, fundamental in labor law. Thus, the employer must install a system proportional to the desired goal. For example, the employee must be able to deactivate the geolocation device himself. The employer must also respect a limited retention period for location data (two months are recommended by the CNIL).

THE FORMAL CONDITIONS FOR THE GEOLOCATION OF EMPLOYEES

The employer must also comply with formal conditions before setting up an employee geolocation system: he must first inform the employee representative bodies of his plan to introduce a geolocation system.

He must then inform the employee himself of the purpose of the device and his rights; this information must be personal and individual and can, for example, pass through an amendment to the employment contract.

Finally, the employer must make a declaration to the CNIL the installation of a geolocation system, because location data constitutes personal data; except, any processing of personal data requires a declaration to the CNIL.