Trade unions HK Handel and IDA have spoken out against parliament’s decision to allow audio surveillance as part of new measures against shoplifting, calling it “a significant mistake”.
“This is a political misstep that completely disregards how uncomfortable and invasive audio surveillance is for employees working in stores across the country,” Mette Høgh, chairperson of HK Handel, said in a statement.
“It will now be much easier for employers to record and store conversations between employees, putting them at a high risk of having their privacy violated. In my view, audio surveillance is an entirely disproportionate tool to use,” she said.
HK Handel, Denmark’s largest union for retail employees, also argued that there is no evidence to suggest that audio surveillance prevents theft and questioned why camera surveillance without audio, which is currently standard practice, is not sufficient.
Justice Minister Peter Hummelgaard has noted that the use of audio surveillance must still comply with data protection regulations. These stipulate that audio recordings cannot be used if less intrusive measures are available.
IDA, the trade union for engineers and IT professionals, has also spoken out against the measure, which also allows for audio recordings in customer-facing parts of stores.
“Continuous audio recording is highly intrusive for everyone involved. Consideration for employees’ working conditions should outweigh the desire to introduce hidden recordings of conversations with customers,” Malene Matthison-Hansen, head of IDA’s Employee Council, said in a statement.
“The issue could be resolved by allowing employees to press a recording button if an uncomfortable situation with a customer arises,” she added.
