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Melih R. Çalıkoğlu

Sensitive Employee Data in Mobbing Case Leads to GDPR Violation


🗓️ Decision Date: May 2019


🔍Complaint: GESTHOTEL ACTIVOS BALAGARES S.L., a hospitality establishment based in Spain, faced allegations of potential breach of data protection regulations. The claim centered around the company's handling of an employee's private letter, which contained sensitive medical information. The employee, who was claiming to be a victim of harassment (mobbing), had their letter read out loud during a meeting with colleagues, without their consent.


🔬Investigation: The Spanish Data Protection Agency (AEPD), the country's authority for ensuring compliance with data protection laws, launched an investigation into this claim. In response, the company admitted the inappropriate handling of the sensitive data and the lack of consent from the employee.


🚫Violation: AEPD found that the company's handling of the employee's private letter violated the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The company was found to have disclosed sensitive medical information without the consent of the individual concerned, which is a form of personal data processing that necessitates compliance with data protection laws.


📝Reason for Non-compliance: The GDPR necessitates explicit consent for data collection and processing. The company's failure to obtain consent before disclosing the sensitive medical information breached the GDPR's transparency and consent principles, infringing upon the individual's privacy rights.


💰Penalty: The infringement led AEPD to impose an initial fine of €15,000 on the company for breaching GDPR principles of transparency, integrity, and accountability.


🏁Resolution: The details of the resolution are not specified in the available summaries.


🔎Who's Who: AEPD (Spanish Data Protection Agency): An independent authority that ensures Spain’s compliance with data protection laws. GESTHOTEL ACTIVOS BALAGARES S.L.: A Spanish hotel at the center of this case, found guilty of breaching GDPR's data handling guidelines.


📑Find the detailed decision here: AEPD Decision



AI TRANSPARENCY NOTICE:




This summary was created with AI assistance of ChatGPT mostly with AI Contribution.




The article image was created with AI assistance of Leonardo.ai with full AI Contribution.


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