School in Gdansk (Danzig) (fine imposed against town of Gdansk) – Fine (Poland, 2020)

Fine
Urząd Ochrony Danych Osobowych4 March 2020Poland
overturned
Fine

General GDPR enforcement action

This case relates to broader data protection obligations, not specifically to cookie or consent banner compliance. It is not included in cookie statistics or the Risk Calculator.

A school in Gdansk used fingerprint scanners to let students pay for meals, but the Polish data protection authority said this was illegal. Even though parents agreed in writing, the consent wasn't considered voluntary. This case highlights the need for schools to ensure consent is truly voluntary when collecting sensitive data like fingerprints.

What happened

A school in Gdansk used fingerprint scanners for student meal payments without valid voluntary consent.

Who was affected

Students at the school who used their fingerprints to pay for meals.

What the authority found

The data protection authority found the school's use of fingerprint data unlawful because the consent wasn't voluntary.

Why this matters

This case emphasizes that schools and other institutions must ensure consent is truly voluntary, especially when handling sensitive data like biometrics. It serves as a reminder to review consent processes to avoid similar issues.

GDPR Articles Cited

Art. 5 GDPR
Art. 9 GDPR
Full Legal Summary
Detailed

Original summary: A school in Gdansk used biometric fingerprint scanners to authenticate students for the payment process in the school canteen. Although the parents had given their written consent to such data processing, the data protection authority considered the processing of the student data to be unlawful, as the consent to data processing was not given voluntarily. Update: Update: On August 7, 2020, the Provincial Administrative Court in Warsaw overturned the decision of the Polish DPA imposing a fine of EUR 4,600.

Related Enforcement Actions (0)

No other enforcement actions found for School in Gdansk (Danzig) (fine imposed against town of Gdansk) in PL

This is the only recorded action for this entity in this jurisdiction.

Details

Fine Date

4 March 2020

Authority

Urząd Ochrony Danych Osobowych

Enforcement Tracker ID

ETid-224

About this data

Data: CMS GDPR Enforcement Tracker
Licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
AI-verified and classified

Cite as: Cookie Fines. School in Gdansk (Danzig) (fine imposed against town of Gdansk) - Poland (2020). Retrieved from cookiefines.eu

Report Inaccuracy

Last updated: