The Privacy Guarantor fines INPS with 50 thousand euros for having published on its website the personal data of thousands of participants in a competition announced by the Institute. Among the data subject to the violation, in addition to the indication of the name and surname of the candidates and the date of birth, the score resulting from the average of the votes obtained in the written and oral tests, the score of the qualifications, the indication of admission with reservation including the reasons relating to health, of over 5 thousand interested parties between winners and eligible.
The investigation originated from the checks carried out during an initial proceeding that the Guarantor had concluded by imposing a fine of 20 thousand euros on the Institute for having disseminated the intermediate documents of the same competition, which then also ended up on social media by third parties.
Further investigations by the Authority highlighted that even the final rankings published online contained numerous detailed information relating to the personal and family affairs of the participants, exposing people to possible reputational damage. In fact, some names were associated with references to pending trials, which, although related to the dispute with the administration, generated the misunderstanding of the existence of criminal records.
As repeatedly highlighted by the Guarantor, the publication of the rankings must take place in compliance with the applicable industry regulations with regard only to the data of the winners necessary to ensure publicity and transparency. Online publication, unlike traditional forms of advertising, allows anyone, through the effect of common search engines external to the sites, to find a consistent set of personal information made available online, not always updated and of a different nature. Once published and indexed, the data in fact risk remaining online for an indefinite period and can also be used for other purposes.
https://www.garanteprivacy.it/home/docweb/-/docweb-display/docweb/10076607