That everyone has adequate current virus protection and a firewall on their home PC should be a matter of course. This is all the more true, of course, if an employee works for his company in the home office and transfers sensitive data. However, when it comes to the question of responsibility for data protection, it doesn’t matter which data is transferred.

The decision on this is already regulated in the applicable GDPR (Article 4 No. 7 GDPR). Accordingly, the person who decides on the purpose and means of data processing is responsible. And that is usually the employer with the authority to issue instructions to you as an employee. This principle also applies to freelancers who generally work for a company in the context of a service contract, provided that it is not a separate service in which data processing is not an important core component of the work.

In this case, the freelancer would be the responsible body for compliance with the GDPR. However, this basically never applies to salaried employees, which is why the responsibility remains with the company.

But even if the responsibility of data protection lies with the employer, you should make sure to secure your own PC and the network as well as possible so as not to get into the area of negligence. In the home office, too, the employee has to comply with his due diligence obligations as well as at the regular workplace.

Data carriers and documents related to the professional activity should never be kept unattended. Adequate encryption of data carriers also makes sense.

Larger companies in particular have often already established clear rules for employees in their home office, and they also equip them with the necessary security tools. This can be, for example, a company notebook that has been set up so that only certain activities that are intended for the home office can be carried out. This would also eliminate the vulnerability of an employee’s home PC.

The use of a VPN (Virtual Private Network), via which data can be transmitted in encrypted form, can also be very useful.

If data is lost, or even worse gets into the wrong hands, this can cause great damage, which is why the question of liability quickly arises. In principle, liability is derived from the provisions of the GDPR, according to which the body responsible for data processing must be consulted. And as already mentioned, this is the employer.

So if a fine is imposed by a supervisory authority, this goes directly to the company, but not to the employee who cannot be held liable towards the responsible body (employer).

Here too, caution is required for negligence or intent. Because even if, from your point of view as an employee, it was not a deliberate act, this can be interpreted for you in the event of gross negligence.

In such a case, you would be fully liable for damage. However, the extent of liability on the part of the employee in the home office is also balanced between slight, medium and gross negligence.

Working in the home office can be a win-win situation for companies and employees even after the Corona crisis, provided that there are clear rules about the work processes and the general conditions. If your employer has not yet made any arrangements with you in this regard, you should write down these important points in the home office before starting.