Challenges, Conflicts, and Solution Strategies for the Introduction of Corporate Data Protection Measures

Abstract

As the digital transformation of the economy relies on the processing of personal data, employee data protection is an important prerequisite. When implementing data protection, there is typically a discussion of technical and organizational measures. However, since virtually all data protection measures can be regarded as socio-technical, the consideration of a third aspect is a critical but often neglected aspect of their implementation: the social sphere. In this chapter, we present the impact of the social sphere on the introduction of data protection measures. We discuss three main challenges, namely: (1) the lack of consideration of the interactions between the technical, organizational, and social spheres; (2) companies exploiting the gray areas of employee data protection; and (3) inherent conflicts between different quality characteristics. Furthermore, we show solution approaches for these challenges.