The Conservative People’s Party – Complaint Upheld (Denmark, 2022)
General GDPR enforcement action
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Norway's Datatilsynet upheld a complaint against the Danish Conservative People's Party for how it handled a legal investigation into sexual violence allegations. The party used a law firm to gather information without clearly informing the accused member, which raised privacy concerns. This case highlights the importance of transparency and having a valid reason for processing sensitive information.
What happened
The Conservative People's Party investigated sexual violence allegations against a member without properly informing him about the data collection.
Who was affected
The affected individuals were the party member accused of misconduct and the women involved in the investigation.
What the authority found
Datatilsynet found that the party did not adequately inform the accused member about the data collection, violating GDPR's transparency requirements.
Why this matters
This case underscores the need for political parties and organizations to ensure transparency when handling sensitive investigations. It serves as a reminder to clearly communicate data processing activities to all involved parties.
GDPR Articles Cited
National Law Articles
Entities Involved
In July 2021, the Danish Conservative People's Party (controller) hired a law firm (processor) to investigate information published in the press about potential sexual violence by one of its high-profile members toward several women. As part of the legal investigation, the processor collected information through interviews with the women who reported the violence and the data subject himself. Later, in September 2021, after being excluded from the party and the parliamentary group, the data subject complained to the DPA. The processor explained to the DPA that it processed the data subject's information on several legal bases: # Information about the accusations: #* Article 6(1)(f) GDPR. Investigating the allegations was necessary for the controller's legitimate interest in deciding whether the data subject could continue to be the party and the parliamentary group member. # Information about (possible) criminal offences: #* [https://www.retsinformation.dk/eli/lta/2018/502 § 8 Section 3 sentence 2 of the Danish Data Protection Act] (Databeskyttelsesloven), according to which processing data about criminal offences may take place if necessary for safeguarding a legitimate interest and this interest clearly overrides the interests of the data subject. # Information about sexual relationships: #* Article 9(2)(d) GDPR. The controller is a not-for-profit political party and, therefore, can internally process information covered by Article 9 GDPR about its members for its legitimate activities. #* Article 9(2)(f) GDPR. Processing was necessary to establish, exercise or defend a legal claim. In this regard, the processor argued that the term "legal claim" should not be limited to current legal proceedings and may relate to actual or prospective court proceedings, obtaining legal advice, or establishing, exercising or defending legal rights in any other way. The processor also pointed out that the data subject received a general privacy policy from the controller when joini
Outcome
Complaint Upheld
A data subject complaint that was upheld by the DPA.
Related Enforcement Actions (0)
No other enforcement actions found for The Conservative People’s Party in DK
This is the only recorded action for this entity in this jurisdiction.
Details
About this data
Cite as: Cookie Fines. The Conservative People’s Party - Denmark (2022). Retrieved from cookiefines.eu
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