May my employer read my work email?
Your employer may not simply read your work email. There must be a legitimate interest, and the works council usually must have consented to the monitoring policy.
Short version: no, not just like that. Even on a work email address you have a reasonable expectation of privacy (ECHR Bărbulescu v Romania, 2017). The employer may monitor under conditions — but rarely without warning or without works council consent. When is it allowed? (1) Concrete suspicion of criminal acts or serious breaches — e.g. fraud, leaking trade secrets, harassment. Then a targeted look is allowed, preferably with witness or external IT auditor. (2) General technical security (spam filter, antivirus). Content is scanned automatically, not read by humans. (3) A clear, shared monitoring policy — works council consent required, written rules stating WHAT, WHEN, WHY and HOW LONG. What's genuinely not allowed: structural sampling without suspicion, copying all emails, opening personal emails marked "private", using your login to act as you. Practical advice: mark private mails "private" in subject. Don't open personal mail on work hardware. Request the monitoring policy in writing (Art. 13 GDPR entitles you). Suspect illegal monitoring? What now: gather evidence, inform works council, consult union, consider AP complaint. For employers: this is an AP enforcement priority. Fines do get issued. A DPIA (Art. 35) is usually mandatory for structural monitoring.
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