Employee Monitoring Law Planner
Sources

German Criminal Code (StGB) sections 201 and 201a (confidentiality of the spoken word; images of the intimate sphere)

Law. Placed at Germany. Read 30 Sep 2026; 3 provisions cited by the planner.

What does StGB 201a and 201 require?

Whoever, without authorisation, creates or transmits an image of another person who is in a dwelling or in a room specially protected against view (for example a changing room, toilet, treatment room or sauna) and thereby violates that person's most personal sphere of life is punishable. Also cited: s 201(1), do not record another person's non-public spoken words without authorisation, and do not use or pass on such a recording; s 201(2), do not intercept non-public words with a listening device or publicly communicate recorded or intercepted words.

StGB s 201a(1) no. 1Do not create or transmit images of a person in a dwelling or a room specially protected from view that violate their intimate privacy

Whoever, without authorisation, creates or transmits an image of another person who is in a dwelling or in a room specially protected against view (for example a changing room, toilet, treatment room or sauna) and thereby violates that person's most personal sphere of life is punishable. The legitimate-interest exception in subsection 4 does not apply to this offence.

What a reviewer asks to see: Camera register by site confirming no device covers changing rooms, toilets, showers, treatment rooms, hotel rooms or private dwellings, with field-of-view checks; Approval record for every camera installation, including data protection assessment under the GDPR and BDSG; Procedure for devices with cameras (smart glasses, bodycams, phones) in protected rooms
Where monitoring plans usually fall short: Camera in a corridor that sees into a changing room when the door opens; Facility-management or care-home cameras in bedrooms justified by safety; Live transmission from a protected room to a monitoring centre treated as not recording
Source: German Criminal Code (StGB) sections 201 and 201a (confidentiality of the spoken word; images of the intimate sphere), read 30 Sep 2026
StGB s 201(1)Do not record another person's non-public spoken words without authorisation, and do not use or pass on such a recording

Whoever, without authorisation, records the non-public spoken words of another on a sound carrier, or uses such a recording or lets a third party have it, is punishable by imprisonment up to three years or a fine. For a business this means no call, meeting or conversation is recorded unless every participant has consented, and no recording of doubtful origin is used or shared.

What a reviewer asks to see: Procedure for call and meeting recording requiring the express consent of every participant before recording starts, with the consent logged; Register of recording tools (telephony, conferencing, dictation, bodycams) with the consent mechanism for each; Works council agreement (Betriebsvereinbarung) covering recording where a works council exists
Where monitoring plans usually fall short: Meeting-platform recording or AI note-taking switched on without each participant's consent; Quality-monitoring recordings of customer calls without the agent's and the customer's consent; Recordings made abroad under one-party rules used in Germany
Source: German Criminal Code (StGB) sections 201 and 201a (confidentiality of the spoken word; images of the intimate sphere), read 30 Sep 2026
StGB s 201(2)Do not intercept non-public words with a listening device or publicly communicate recorded or intercepted words

Whoever, without authorisation, employs a bugging device to listen in on the non-public spoken words of another not intended for them, or publicly communicates verbatim or in substance words recorded or intercepted in breach of the section, is punishable in the same way. Public communication is punishable only where it is apt to harm another's legitimate interests, and it is not unlawful where made to safeguard overriding public interests.

What a reviewer asks to see: Inventory of listening and audio-capture equipment (room microphones, intercoms, smart speakers in meeting rooms) with their approved use and signage; Rule against publishing or quoting recordings of private conversations, with a legal review step for any public-interest exception
Where monitoring plans usually fall short: Always-on microphones in conference systems capturing side conversations; Quoting a leaked recording in a press statement without legal review
Source: German Criminal Code (StGB) sections 201 and 201a (confidentiality of the spoken word; images of the intimate sphere), read 30 Sep 2026

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