Commissioner (Cyprus) - 11.17.001.009.077
| Commissioner - 11.17.001.009.077 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Authority: | Commissioner (Cyprus) |
| Jurisdiction: | Cyprus |
| Relevant Law: | Article 5(1)(a) GDPR Article 57(1)(f) GDPR Article 58(2)(i) GDPR Article 83 GDPR |
| Type: | Complaint |
| Outcome: | Upheld |
| Started: | 28.04.2021 |
| Decided: | 07.12.2023 |
| Published: | 07.12.2023 |
| Fine: | 1500 EUR |
| Parties: | Complainant Respondent |
| National Case Number/Name: | 11.17.001.009.077 |
| European Case Law Identifier: | n/a |
| Appeal: | Unknown |
| Original Language(s): | Greek |
| Original Source: | Office of the Commissioner for Personal Data Protection (in EL) |
| Initial Contributor: | Evangelia Tsimpida |
The Cypriot Commissioner for Personal Data Protection imposed a €1,500 fine on a doctor, as a controller, for unlawfully accessing personal data on the General Health System, in breach of Article 5(1)(a) GDPR.
English Summary
Facts
A data subject found out that on 09 March 2021 her personal data was accessed by a doctor, the controller, on the portal of the General Health System (GHS), without her consent. The reason given for accessing the data subject's online GHS account was that "The provider created a visit without a referral and had the beneficiary's consent to access his/her Medical Record". The data subject, who was not a patient of the controller, upon discovering such access, attempted to contact the controller without success.
The Health Insurance Agency confirmed that the controller accessed the medical data of the data subject on GHS without there being a referral, claim for compensation for services nor did the data subject register a visit with the controller.
On 28 April 2021 the data subject filed a complaint with the Cypriot DPA (Data Protection Commissioner, DPC).
On 19 July 2022, the controller provided its submissions to the DPC. The controller confirmed that she indeed did not know and had not examined the data subject before and neither did her secretary have the data subject's details in her file. In order to access the data subject's medical records in the GHS computer system, it was necessary to enter the beneficiary's full name, date of birth and ID number, and therefore the controller claimed that she had probably spoken to the data subject on the telephone for a visit. Otherwise, she assumed that there was an error in her attempt to access another patient's file. However, as a considerable amount of time had elapsed, she could not recall anything specific about the incident.
The data subject replied to the controller's submissions. The data subject claimed that she never contacted the controller by telephone nor did she give her personal data to the controller's secretary. As soon as she became aware of the unlawful access to her data, she reached out to the controller and contacted her secretary, leaving her full name and telephone number (not her date of birth or her identity) so that the controller could call her, but never before that moment.
Holding
The Cypriot DPA assessed acknowledged that he controller did not know the data subject nor had ever examined her. However, it is an important element that the doctor could not prove that she obtained the data subject's personal data in a lawful manner and that she was authorised to access the GHS portal. The DPC noted that the possession of the data subject's data, as well as access to the data subject's medical records on the GHS, constituted acts of processing on the part of the controller. Factors such as the absence of malicious intent or the absence of harm do not affect the fact that there was indeed unlawful processing. Furthermore, the DPC considered the fact that it was impossible that the controller accidentally accessed the data subject's medical data, as this requires knowledge of the date of birth and ID number of the patient.
Taking the above into account, the DPC considered that there was a violation of Article 5(1)(a) GDPR, because the data subject's personal data were not processed lawfully and fairly nor in a transparent manner. Taking into consideration the aggravating factor that the controller accessed data concerning health of the data subject, under Article 9 GDPR, the DPC, pursuant to Article 58(2)(i) GDPR and Article 83 GDPR, imposed an administrative fine of €1,500 on the controller.
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English Machine Translation of the Decision
The decision below is a machine translation of the Greek original. Please refer to the Greek original for more details.
I reviewed a complaint submitted to my Office regarding access to the Complainant's General Health System (GHS) account by a medical practitioner. Specifically, as the Complainant mentioned, she found access to her personal data from the doctor, on the GeSY beneficiary portal, without knowing the doctor, without a referral and without her permission. During the investigation, both the Complainant and the doctor reported to my Office that each did not know the other and that the doctor did not examine the complainant. I evaluated the doctor's positions regarding the possible ways of obtaining the Complainant's data, which were necessary to access the Complainant's beneficiary portal at the NHS. However, the doctor was unable to prove that she legally obtained the Complainant's personal data and that she was authorized to gain access to the beneficiary portal. Therefore, the Complainant's personal data were not processed lawfully and legitimately in a transparent manner. That is, the principle of "legality, objectivity and transparency", as provided for in Article 5(1)(a) of the Regulation, was not observed. For the violation of this article, I imposed on the doctor an administrative fine of one thousand five hundred euros (€1500).
