IP - 07121-1/2021/678

IP - 07121-1/2021/678
Authority:	IP (Slovenia)
Jurisdiction:	Slovenia
Relevant Law:	Article 6(1)(b) GDPR Article 6(1)(b) GDPR
Type:	Advisory Opinion
Outcome:	n/a
Started:
Decided:	07.04.2021
Published:	07.04.2021
Fine:	None
Parties:	n/a
National Case Number/Name:	07121-1/2021/678
European Case Law Identifier:	n/a
Appeal:	Unknown
Original Language(s):	Slovenian
Original Source:	IP (in SL)
Initial Contributor:	GDPR+

The Slovenian DPA held that a building manager can disclose data to a unit owner without the consent of others, if the disclosure is necessary for the proper determination of contractual obligations. This information may only be provided in a manner that precludes disclosure by unauthorised persons.

English Summary

Facts

IP received a question from a unit owner in an apartment building stating that he has noticed that the overall electricity consumption in his building is high. He believes that the private companies are connected to the common electricity in the building and the occupants are paying for the electricity for them. He has asked the electricity company and the building manager for information about who uses the shared electricity. They refused to answer him, in order to protect personal data.

Holding

The DPA held that if the disclosure of certain personal data is necessary for the proper determination of obligations to other unit owners (apartment building), then the unit owners have a right to it. This means that the manager can provide it to a unit owner without the consent of the other unit owners. This information may only be provided in a manner that precludes disclosure by unauthorized persons.

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English Machine Translation of the Decision

The decision below is a machine translation of the Slovenian original. Please refer to the Slovenian original for more details.

                    
                    Electricity consumers in a multi-apartment building
                    +
                    -
                    
                    
                        Date: 08.04.2021
                        Number: 07121-1 / 2021/678
                        Categories: Legal bases, Obtaining OP from collections, Housing and real estate law
                        The Information Commissioner (hereinafter IP) received your letter by e-mail, in which you explain that you have noticed that the consumption of total electricity in your multi-apartment building is high. You feel that the business premises are connected to the common electricity in the building and the residents pay for the electricity for them. You asked the electricity company and the manager for information on who all uses the common electricity, but they did not want to disclose this to you for the protection of personal data.

On the basis of the information you have provided to us, hereinafter referred to as Article 58 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data Directive 95/46 / EC (hereinafter: the General Regulation on Data Protection), point 7 of the first paragraph of Article 49 of the Personal Data Protection Act (Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia, No. 94/07, officially consolidated text, hereinafter ZVOP-1 ) and Article 2 of the Information Commissioner Act (Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia, No. 113/05, hereinafter ZInfP), we provide our non-binding opinion regarding your question.

In the context of a non-binding opinion, the IP cannot give a concrete assessment of the legality of a certain processing of personal data, but can only make a concrete definition in the inspection procedure. Therefore, the IP only gives you general explanations below that can help you.

IP clarifies that personal information constitutes any information relating to an identified or identifiable individual. This means that data relating to legal persons are not personal data that would be protected by personal data protection legislation.

According to the actual situation, as it appears from your e-mail, IP explains that if the distribution of electricity costs for an individual apartment owner is dependent on the consumption of other apartment owners, then apartment owners are entitled to obtain all data (including personal) they need. that they can verify that the costing is correct. In this way, apartment owners can regularly check whether the manager is doing his job properly or. whether he correctly distributed the costs among the condominium owners. Supervision over the work of the manager is performed by apartment owners, for this purpose they can also appoint a supervisory board, whose basic task is to supervise the work of the manager arising from the contract for the provision of management services (Article 39 of the Housing Act, Official Gazette RS, no. 03, as amended, hereinafter: SZ-1). Article 65 of SZ-1 also stipulates for control purposes that the manager must, at his request, but not more than once a month, provide each condominium owner with access to contracts concluded with third parties regarding the operation and maintenance of a multi-apartment building in accounting documents. , which are acquired on the basis of contracts and business relations of the manager with third parties and in the state of the reserve fund of a multi-apartment building.

Therefore, if the provision of certain personal data is necessary for the correct determination of obligations in relation to other apartment owners, then the apartment owners are entitled to them. This means that the manager can provide them to you without the consent of the other floor owners (in this case, the owners of business premises). This information may only be provided in a way that prevents unauthorized persons from disclosing it. However, when transmitting personal data, the controller must comply with the principle of minimum data, which stipulates that the personal data being processed must be relevant and appropriate in terms of scope for the purposes for which they are collected and further processed. Based on the above, IP advises you to contact the manager of the apartment building or the electricity supplier again with your request.

IP has already answered similar questions, so it refers you to two published opinions below:

Access of condominium owners to data on paid bills, no. opinion 07121-1 / 2020/1795, dated 8 October 2020: https://www.ip-rs.si/mnenja-gdpr/6048a64133914,
Table with costs by housing units, no. opinion 0712-1 / 2019/502, dated 6 March 2019: https://www.ip-rs.si/mnenja-gdpr/preglednica-s-stro%C5%A1ki-po-stanovanjskih-enotah.


We also refer you to the IP guidelines on the processing of personal data in the management of multi-apartment buildings:

https://www.ip-rs.si/fileadmin/user_upload/Pdf/smernice/Smernice_za_upravnike_vecstanovanjskih_stavb.pdf.

Hoping you have received an answer to your question, we warmly welcome you.


Mojca Prelesnik, B.Sc.
Information Commissioner

Prepared by:
Neja Domnik, M.Sc. right,
assistant consultant at IP