G.O.L. Impresa Sociale S.r.l. – Violation Found (Italy, 2022)

A news company named G.O.L. Impresa Sociale S.r.l. published an article in the newspaper Open Online.it reporting on a news story involving the director of a high school (identified by her first name, last name and a photo) and an 18-year-old high school student (referred to by the initials of his first and last name), following the revelation of a love affair between the two, which is currently being investigated by the competent school offices. The article published excerpts of the messages allegedly exchanged between the director and the student related to details of the personal relations between them, placing a particular focus on the contents of these messages. The story gained wide public notoriety in Italy, and prompted the Italian DPA (Garante per la Protezione dei Dati Personali – Garante) to launch a preliminary investigation into the protection of the personal data of the persons mentioned in the news story, weighed against considerations regarding freedom of expression and information in the context of the journalistic activity carried out by the news company. In its analysis of the case, the Garante took into consideration Article 9 GDPR, which establishes that data revealing a person’s sex life are special categories of personal data, and Article 85 GDPR, which establishes that Member States shall by law reconcile the right to the protection of personal data with the right to freedom of expression and information, including processing for journalistic purposes. The Garante also observed Article 137(3) of the [https://www.garanteprivacy.it/pdf?p_p_id=PdfUtil&p_p_lifecycle=2&p_p_state=normal&p_p_mode=view&p_p_resource_id=%2Foffering%2FprintPDF&p_p_cacheability=cacheLevelPage&_PdfUtil_articleId=9067692 Italian Data Protection Code] (hereinafter the Code) which provides that the dissemination or communication of personal data for journalistic purposes can be limited in order to protect the rights mentioned in Article 1 of the Code (human dignity, funda