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ARTICLE · 12 AUGUST 2026

Part IV: Tools For Internal Investigations II: Screening Of Employee Data, Documents, Emails, And Physical Searches

Mayer Brown
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German employers face complex legal constraints when screening employee data or conducting workplace searches. This briefing explains how to lawfully navigate GDPR, telecommunications secrecy, and works council requirements while maintaining defensible evidence for internal investigations.

GermanyEmployment and HR
Pauline Stadler
Pauline Stadler
Vanessa Klesy
Vanessa Klesy
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This Part IV of our Briefing Series explains how companies can lawfully and effectively screen employee data, documents, and emails, and how to conduct proportionate physical searches in a manner that is defensible and operationally practical.

The core message is straightforward: screening measures and searches must be purpose driven and proportionate, based on a valid legal ground under data protection law, and compliant with additional constraints that may arise where private use of company systems is permitted or where telecommunications secrecy or device access rules apply.

In Germany, the relevant legal framework is anchored in the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the German Federal Data Protection Act (Bundesdatenschutzgesetz – BDSG), the Telecommunications and Digital Services Data Protection Act (Telekommunikation-Digitale-Dienste-Datenschutz-Gesetz – TDDDG), and the Telecommunications Act (Telekommunikationsgesetz – TKG) in certain scenarios.

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This Mayer Brown article provides information and comments on legal issues and developments of interest. The foregoing is not a comprehensive treatment of the subject matter covered and is not intended to provide legal advice. Readers should seek specific legal advice before taking any action with respect to the matters discussed herein.

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