Stjörnuna ehf, the operator of Subway in Iceland – €1,020 Fine (Iceland, 2024)

€1,020Persónuvernd12 March 2024Iceland
final
Fine

General GDPR enforcement action

This case relates to broader data protection obligations, not specifically to cookie or consent banner compliance. It is not included in cookie statistics or the Risk Calculator.

Stjörnuna ehf, the operator of Subway in Iceland, was fined EUR 1,020 for improperly monitoring an employee without their knowledge. This is significant because it shows that companies must respect employee privacy and follow data protection rules. Businesses should be transparent about surveillance practices to avoid penalties.

What happened

Stjörnuna ehf monitored an employee in real-time using surveillance cameras without their consent.

Who was affected

An employee at Subway in Iceland who was monitored without knowledge.

What the authority found

The Icelandic data protection authority ruled that Stjörnuna ehf violated GDPR by not properly informing the employee about the monitoring.

Why this matters

This case underscores the importance of transparency in employee monitoring. Companies should clearly communicate surveillance practices to their staff to comply with data protection laws.

GDPR Articles Cited

AI-verified

Art. 12(GDPR)
Art. 13(GDPR)
Art. 30(GDPR)
Art. 5(1)(a) GDPR
Art. 5(1)(b) GDPR
Art. 6(1) GDPR
Art. 83(GDPR)
Art. 58(2) GDPR
View original scraped data
Art. 5(1)(b) GDPR
Art. 5(1)(a) GDPR
Art. 6(1) GDPR
Art. 12(GDPR)
Art. 13(GDPR)
Art. 30(GDPR)
Art. 58(2) GDPR
Art. 83(GDPR)

Original data from scraper before AI verification against source document.

Source verified 16 March 2026
articles corrected
Full Legal Summary
Detailed

The data subject is an employee at Subway in Iceland. The controller is Stjörnuna ehf, the operator of Subway in Iceland. The data subject filed a complaint to the Icelandic DPA (Persónu­vernd) on 4 May 2021. The data subject claimed that the store manager was at home monitoring the data subject in real time and called the workplace to give comments on the data subject’s work style based on the footage. This was done without the data subject’s knowledge. The controller argued in a letter to the DPA that it had installed the surveillance cameras for the sake of security and property protection. The surveillance camera system was used in a reasonable manner and it was been used for the control of workers or for monitoring work results. The controller claimed that the store manager went beyond the stated purpose of the monitoring and used the footage to monitor the work performance of the employees without the consent or knowledge of the company representatives. Immediate action was taken to prevent this from happening again. However, in a following letter, the controller denied that the store manager regularly monitored staff in real time through the restaurant's surveillance camera system and commented on their work style and behaviour. The controller argued that the store manager was looking at the surveillance camera system on the day in question out of fear that bread was running out. However, the store manager noticed that there was a big queue which did not change after 5 minutes, and therefore called the data subject who was in the rest area to request that the data subject serves the customers. Lastly, the controller argued that since there was no systematic collection of information, they had no obligation beyond the installation of signs about the surveillance cameras in the workplace to inform employees more about the monitoring. Firstly, the DPA found the arguments of the controller conflicting as the purpose for processing was either (1) in the inter

Related Enforcement Actions (0)

No other enforcement actions found for Stjörnuna ehf, the operator of Subway in Iceland in IS

This is the only recorded action for this entity in this jurisdiction.

Details

Fine Date

12 March 2024

Authority

Persónuvernd

Fine Amount

€1,020

150,000 ISK

GDPRhub ID

gdprhub-7757

About this data

Data: GDPRhub (noyb.eu)
Licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
AI-verified and classified

Cite as: Cookie Fines. Stjörnuna ehf, the operator of Subway in Iceland - Iceland (2024). Retrieved from cookiefines.eu

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