Since the arrival of covid-19, German companies have begun to embrace the home office concept. More and more businesses are choosing to allow their staff to work from home even after the crisis. This goes hand in hand with an increased awareness regarding GDPR-compliant working: as soon as the work involves personal data, certain regulations must be observed. Just because you’re working from home doesn’t mean you can change how you handle personal data. So data protection is also relevant in your home office, and that brings responsibilities. This article explains what you need to know about data protection in your home office.
Personal data are all data that are or can be assigned to a living natural person. Anyone who stores and/or processes such data is obligated to protect them.
The GDPR requires that third parties have no access to personal data or technical equipment. If you live in a shared flat, with a partner or your family, you must take measures to ensure that other members of your household have no access to your work data:
Alongside company-owned devices, you can also use personal end devices for work. That can be handy (you know how the devices work and don’t have to get used to or learn to use new ones), but it’s not without its problems: using your personal devices for work creates security risks and data protection issues in your home office.
Aside from the blurring line between professional and personal life, you should prevent risks as follows:
If you cannot set up your end devices accordingly, you should only use devices for work that your employer has made available specifically for this purpose.
As much as we wish they were, work processes usually aren’t entirely digital. Printed documents, which may also contain personal data, can be kept under lock and key, but at some point they have to be destroyed. This requires a concept: data protection compliant destruction differs from simply throwing the documents away. Before they end up in the paper recycling bin, they should be shredded.
The PaperSAFE® document shredder, the compact document shredder for small and home offices, is a convenient solution. Its handy automatic start and stop function ensures fast and secure use; it’s easy to empty thanks to a detachable top part; and it’s safe to handle because the motor automatically shuts off when the device is opened. Its particle size of 4 x 30 mm corresponds to security level P-4 and is perfect for meeting normal protection requirements for confidential and personal data in a company.
Here’s a quick summary of our tips for observing the GDPR in your home office:
If you want to know more about the GDPR, why not take a look at these topics:
These tips do not replace proper legal advice. They are based on online research on websites about data protection measures.