German Rail Firm Fined $1.65M For Spying On Employees

This was written by Brynn Koeppen on Monday, November 9, 2009, 15:07.

The German railway firm Deutsche Bahn has received a $1.65 million fine from the Berlin Data Commission for 10 years of  employee data breaches, including spying on staff through personal email. Deustsche Bahn claims that it sifted through personal staff emails  in order to find proof of employee malpractice with its railway suppliers.The screenings have occurred at least three times over the past 10 years, including in 1998, 2002/3 and 2005/6. According to the Berlin Data Protection Commissioner, more screening dates could be made public as the investigation continues.

“Following this scandal we have made deep changes at the company to exclude such misappropriation in the future,” Deustsche Bahn released in a statement. The Deutsche Bahn million dollar fine is the ‘highest penalty that a German Data Protection Inspectorate has established’ according to the Berlin Data Protection agency.