Tag: claims of spying

Subway

It has been reported in newspapers Vísir that a manager at Subway has been constantly watching an employee through security cameras. The operator of Subway in Iceland, Stjarnan ehf., has been ordered to pay an administrative fine of 1.5 million due to a manager’s monitoring of the Subway employee.

A Subway employee complained to the Persónuvernd (Privacy Protection office) about the issue. He said the local store manager had been monitoring him in real time through security cameras, including from his home.

The store manager called the Subway location and commented on the employee’s work style based on the footage. According to the employee, this monitoring was constant and he received feedback from the manager on a regular basis. The store manager then handed the employee a screen shot with recorded descriptions of his activities.

The employee worked from June 2020 to May 2021, and says that the store manager monitored employees in this way during that time, it was not an isolated case.

The monitoring caused the employee a lot of anxiety and distress and caused him to resign, according to his own words. In his opinion, it was a systemic problem that is not only limited to the Subway station in question, but this monitoring took place at other Subway restaurants in Iceland.

Source published in March 2024:
– https://www.visir.is/g/20242545823d/segir-yfirmann-hja-subway-hafa-fylgst-stodugt-med-ser-i-gegnum-myndavelar

Company in charge of Subway in Iceland: Stjarnan ehf. , kt. 410949-0169, real owner: Skúli Gunnar Sigfússon, company registry

Subway also appeared in the news for fake-union claims: https://listofshame.is/2025/03/21/rok-subway-public-house-hard-rock-cafe-finnsson-bistro/
Travelshift and Guide to Iceland
In 2018, Heimildin published several articles and reported the following:
- A n employee was almost driven out of the country 🇮🇸 as a consequence of being fired of her job as a journalist because she refused to work on her free time.
- The owner of the company had a physically and mentally threatening behaviour. The fear for physical assault that the worker speaks about is illustrated in a second article 🇮🇸 reporting that the owner has a legal history of violence.
- The owner of the company asked for too much work of too few people and showed no satisfaction. He humiliated workers in front of the others. This is backed up by former employees and in two similar stories in the article.
- In another article, the newspaper reports that the employees are tired of being spied on as the company uses a surveillance software 🇮🇸. The software offers functionalities that are against the rules of the Data Protection Authority.
Sources published in November and December 2018:
Travelshift ehf. (kt: 530612-2600), real owner: Ingólfur Abraham Shahin (company registry);

Guide to Iceland ehf. (kt: 620519-0650), real owner also Ingólfur Abraham Shahin (company registry)
Icewear
In 2016, RÚV reported on a case of human trafficking:
- Icewear bought the services of another company who used forced labor of two immigrant women in his house.
- The manager says that they did not know about this and that Icewear is also a victim in that case 🇮🇸, even though the human trafficker had also other workers in its workplace.
In 2019, Heimildin published the story of an employee fired because he pointed out that cameras were used for spying on the workers 🇮🇸:
- The boss sent several emails to the store manager with his complaints about what he saw watching over the employees through the camera system.
- When the store manager contacted the union representative about his concerns, he was fired on the spot by the boss.
- The use of the cameras is not in accordance with the rules of the Data Protection Authority of Iceland, as it is not a security or protection matter.
Sources published from Februar 2016 to March 2019:
- Verslunarstjóri benti á myndavélanjósnir Icewear og missti vinnuna – Heimildin
- Segir Icewear fórnarlamb í mansalsmáli – RÚV.is
Icewear / Drífa ehf. (kt: 480173-0159), real owner: Ágúst Þór Eiríksson (company registry)
Mandi
In 2022, Heimildin published the story of a female worker who was assaulted by the male boss, who was also the landlord of her room:
- The owner, who has a legal history of violence, assaulted her physically 🇮🇸 and verbally and sent her to the hospital.
- He had previously lied to the renter about the condition of the rented room.
- He had sexually harassed her, threatened and blackmailed her into not reporting that sexual harassment by him and a roommate, and gone through her personal belongings.
- During the investigation for the assault, the restaurant staff assisted the boss to prevent the investigators retrieving incriminating camera recordings.
Source published in November 2022:
- Eigandi Mandi ákærður fyrir líkamsárás: „Hann sparkaði í magann á mér og sló mig í höfuðið, ítrekað“ – Heimildin
HALAL ehf. (kt: 490911-1540), real owner: Óli Valur Steindórsson (not the person mentioned in the article.) (company registry)

Tag: claims of spying

Subway

Travelshift and Guide to Iceland

Icewear

Mandi