Abstract
This paper addresses the issue of (im)permissibility and consequences of covert surveillance at the workplace – from ECtHR case law and GDPR perspective. In the first part the relevant ECtHR case law is examined. It follows that covert surveillance at the workplace is (under certain conditions) compliant with Article 8 ECHR – although the developments in ECtHR reasoning from case Köpke (2010) to case Lopez Ribalda (2019) show a more stringent ECtHR approach towards covert surveillance. Moreover, ECtHR itself highlighted in Lopez Ribalda (where there was no violation of Article 8 ECHR) that workers had (and should have resorted to) other available administrative, civil and criminal procedures (besides the employment dispute) to protect their right to personal data