Why prepare them together

Both documents answer the same questions from two sides: what the system does, why, and what stops it from being used for anything else. Writing them together saves a round of questions and shows your works council and data protection officer the same picture.

This page is general information, not legal advice. The assessment for your site stays with your data protection officer and, where needed, your lawyer.

Data protection impact assessment (Art. 35 GDPR)

  • Description: cameras, areas, use cases per camera, active hours, who receives which alerts, where data is processed and stored.
  • Purposes: one purpose per use case, for example intrusion after hours, fire and smoke, safety gear in hall 2.
  • Necessity and proportionality: why cameras and AI, and why not lighting, a fence, a changed process or a guard; why these areas and hours.
  • Risks for the people on camera: employees, visitors, drivers, passers-by; the feeling of being watched; misuse for performance monitoring; data leaks.
  • Measures: no facial recognition or identification, privacy masking, incident data only, short retention, access by role, logging, encryption, data in the EU or on premises.
  • Rights: how information, access and objection work in practice.
  • Consultation: the data protection officer's opinion; the works council's view; a review date.

Works agreement (§ 87(1) no. 6 BetrVG)

  • Scope: sites, cameras and areas covered; an annex with the camera list and images of the masked areas.
  • Purposes and use cases: listed exhaustively; anything not listed is not allowed.
  • Exclusions: no performance or behaviour evaluation of employees, no facial recognition, no tracking of individuals, no figures per employee.
  • Use of clips: what clips may be used for, and whether and under what conditions they may be used in employment matters.
  • Alerts and access: who receives which alerts, who may watch live, search or export, with roles named.
  • Retention: per data type: recordings, incident clips, reports.
  • Control rights: the works council's access to the configuration and the access logs.
  • Changes: new cameras or use cases only after the works council has agreed.
  • Training: who is trained to use the system, including AI literacy under Art. 4 of the EU AI Act.
  • Review and termination: a review date, and what happens to the data if the system is switched off.

Templates from our data protection and security pack

For ProDataAI Lens we provide a template DPIA, a template works agreement, the data processing agreement (on your template or ours) and our technical and organisational measures, filled in with your configuration where possible. The final assessment stays with your data protection officer, works council and lawyers.

Frequently asked questions

Who writes the DPIA?

The controller, that is your company. The data protection officer advises and checks. A provider can supply the technical description and the measures.

Can the works agreement come after go-live?

No. Co-determination applies before the system is introduced. Go live only once the agreement is signed or the conciliation board has decided.

Is a works agreement needed if no works council exists?

Without a works council there is no co-determination, but the GDPR rules still apply and employees must be informed. A clear internal policy helps.

GDPR, works council and the EU AI ActThe legal frame for AI video analytics in Germany and the EU, in one guide.Signage checklistWhat belongs on a CCTV sign under the GDPR, with an example layout.Safety gear (PPE) detectionMissing helmets, vests and safety shoes, entry into danger zones.ManufacturingSafety gear, danger zones, fire and smoke, restricted areas, the gate.