In this case, the ECHR analyzed the balance between the employee’s right of respect for his private life, on the one hand, and the employer’s right to supervise the activity of its staff, in order to ensure productivity and professionalism, on the other hand. Even though an older case, its relevance is especially highlighted in current times, as the pandemic meant that a large number of employees shifted towards working remotely, thus enhancing the use of employee surveillance mechanism.
The rising number and influence of digital companies, especially social media platforms, has generated numerous legal controversies in recent years. In the context of intertwining principles of fair digital markets with European law, the most pressing question was whether ex-post application of EU competition law is effective enough to keep pace with Big Tech companies and fast evolving digital markets. Aiming at extending applicable instruments, the European Commission proposed December 2020 two reforming instruments, the Digital Services Act (DSA) and the Digital Markets Act (DMA). One way to moderate the conduct of Big Tech is to identify how these companies can internalize the costs they levy on users, through supervision, dependence and manipulation, by imposing new social responsibilities. This approach creates a new class of fiduciary duties for those who collect, store and use data provided by online users. In this context, the compatibility of new duties imposed on “information fiduciaries” can be assessed against traditional corporate directors’ fiduciary duties and legal provisions in other branches of law.