DPA case 67/2024 – Complaint Upheld (Belgium, 2024)

Two of the data subject's friends wanted to get married. However, this marriage was refused by the municipality as it was considered a marriage of convenience. In the refusal decision, the municipality mentioned the data subject and their criminal records. Indeed, the municipality based its decision on the opinion of the public prosecutor’s office which showed that the refusal was justified, and mentioned the data subject’s criminal records. The data subject considered that the facts dated back more than 25 years and it were completely irrelevant to the marriage refusal decision. Therefore, they made an access request and an erasure request with the municipality. The municipality’s DPO responded that they were not the controller, and that they were merely carrying out a mandate imposed by the federal government. Indeed, the data came from the national database of the judicial authorities, as the public prosecutor’s report is available for inspection by those concerned at the court and the town hall. This document served as the justification for the municipality’s ruling. The data subject’s lawyer responded to this answer and stressed that the municipality is indeed a controller. He indicated that the person who is responsible for investigating the legality of a marriage and who determines what data is collected for this purpose is the controller. In addition, they argued that although the public prosecutor’s opinion included criminal data, the municipality does not have to copy this opinion identically, especially since the data subject’s history was irrelevant and the couple was not even aware of his history at the time. The DPO of the municipality responded that the prosecutor decided to include the data subject’s judicial past in their opinion, and that they could not answer the question regarding the prosecutor’s motives and legal basis for explicitly mentioning the data subject. The DPO also indicated that after a meeting that took place on the matter of marri