Data commissioner probes publication of pay slip

Data Protection Commissioner Irini Loizidou-Nicolaidou said on Thursday she was investigating a case of the publishing online of a person’s pay slip without their consent.
In a statement, Nicolaidou urged the public to stop re-uploading the information, initially posted on Facebook some two months ago.
The pay slip of the person in question was published along with their full name, salary, ID number and social insurance number.
The woman – understood to be a relative of a well-known politician – then filed a complaint with the data protection commissioner.
The issue is not that the data is sensitive, but that it was published without the woman’s consent.
In her statement, Loizidou said free speech should be balanced by a person’s right to privacy.
The data commissioner is currently compiling a report on the case.
Depending on her findings, she may decide either to impose an administrative fine on the person who originally published the pay slip, or recommend to the attorney-general that the case warrants a criminal investigation.
The publication of someone’s personal data without their consent is punishable by a fine of up to €30,000.
Unlike the ombudswoman, the data protection commissioner’s findings are binding.
In the meantime, Loizidou warned that anyone who had downloaded the original Facebook post and now re-uploads it is also legally liable.
The pay slip appeared again on Facebook more recently. The person uploading it was tracked down by the police’s cybercrime unit and has since removed the content.

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