Newspaper – €10,000 Fine (Cyprus, 2019)
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 newspaper in Cyprus was fined for publishing identifiable photos and names of police investigators without consent. The publication could have used initials or blurred images to protect privacy. This case shows the importance of respecting privacy when reporting news.
What happened
The newspaper published identifiable photos and names of police investigators without their consent.
Who was affected
The police investigators whose identities were revealed in the newspaper's publication.
What the authority found
The Commissioner ruled that the newspaper violated GDPR by not minimizing personal data exposure, as it could have achieved its reporting goals without revealing identities.
Why this matters
This case highlights the need for media outlets to balance public interest with privacy rights. Newspapers should consider anonymizing personal data to avoid GDPR violations.
GDPR Articles Cited
The publication of the newspaper, both in hard copy and in electronic form, allegedly involved inconvenience, unnecessary and unlawful detention of a citizen, and revealed the names and pictures of the two police investigators involved, as well as the photograph of a third police investigator. The Commissioner considered that the aim could be achieved by referring only to the initials of their name and/or their faces being blurred and/or publishing photographs drawn from a distant distance so that it was impossible to identify the persons, and these actions would not bring any change in the nature of the case.
Related Enforcement Actions (0)
No other enforcement actions found for Newspaper in CY
This is the only recorded action for this entity in this jurisdiction.
Details
Fine Date
1 January 2019
Authority
Commissioner for Personal Data Protection
Fine Amount
€10,000
Enforcement Tracker ID
ETid-11
About this data
Cite as: Cookie Fines. Newspaper - Cyprus (2019). Retrieved from cookiefines.eu
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