Berlin -- German rail operator Deutsche Bahn, still reeling from a spy scandal earlier this year, admitted on Tuesday it had secretly and illegally monitored the health records of some of its employees.

"The Deutsche Bahn management has received indications that the group's security division collected employees' illness-related information and circulated it within the group," the firm said in a statement.

"As the data were not job-specific, they should not have been collected," the statement said, adding that those responsible were no longer with the company.

Earlier this year, Deutsche Bahn confirmed it had scoured the personal data of 173,000 workers, around three-fourths of its workforce, for signs of dubious relations with suppliers.

The resulting outcry eventually led to the resignation of the firm's chief executive Hartmut Mehdorn.

AFP/Expatica