"Only an employee data protection law can provide a lasting solution to the rampant informant culture in some companies. The inaction of the federal government, which has been ignoring a corresponding resolution by the Bundestag for years, invites companies to abuse the system," explains Jan Korte (MdB), member of the party executive committee of DIE LINKE:

The actions of Deutsche Bahn mark a new escalation in employee surveillance. If it turns out that in 2005 all 240,000 Deutsche Bahn employees were subjected to another dragnet investigation—and not "just" the 173,000 employees and their spouses whose names have been admitted piecemeal so far—consequences must follow.

Many companies, such as Deutsche Bahn or Telekom, have lost all sense of their employees’ rights and dignity. Yesterday’s letter from Mehdorn to the railway workforce, which shows no sense of wrongdoing whatsoever, is proof of this. The stored personal data of employees and customers is treated in a high-handed manner as if it were the property of the companies.

Data protection and informational self-determination? Not a chance. Instead, a culture of informants is rampant. Preventive surveillance of employees by external security firms has long been standard practice and has effectively become a method of enforcing trade secrets in many companies.

Following the data breaches at Lidl and Telekom, it should now be clear to everyone that it is high time for an employee data protection law.