ECJ holds that the live streaming of video classes falls within the scope of the GDPR
On March 30th, 2023, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) delivered a preliminary ruling in the Case C-34/21 on a request made by the Administrative Court of Wiesbaden Hauptpersonalrat der Lehrerinnen und Lehrer beim Hessischen Kultusministerium vs Minister des Hessischen Kultusministeriums. In this request, the court sought to ascertain whether it was lawful to implement a live-streaming system for classes during the COVID-19 pandemic without getting prior consent from teachers.
At the heart of the case was interpretation of Article 88 of GDPR which relates to the processing of data in an employment context. The ECJ concluded that whilst Member States have discretion over whether they choose to regulate through specified rules, such rules must prioritize protecting employees’ fundamental rights to privacy and must incorporate suitable safeguards to ensure this is realized.
