Ministère de l'économie, des finances et de la relance – Court Ruling (France, 2021)

A public officer asked for personal data to be removed from his appointment notice as published on the Ministry's website since it mentioned his status as a disabled person. The Ministry however refused to do so, on the ground that French law requires the publication of such information. The French Council of State ('CE') held that, although the data had to be published for compliance with the law, such information was not necessary in relation to the purpose to be achieved, and should therefore be removed from the Ministry's website, in compliance with the principles of purpose limitation and data minimization (Article 5(1)(b) and (c) GDPR). However, the CE held that information about the existence of a disability could not be considered as health data when it didn't mention the type or gravity of the disability, and that Article 9 GDPR therefore did not apply to this type of data.