Tag: Polish DPA

Land register number allows access to personal data, Polish authorities confirm

23. March 2022

In a legal dispute that has been ongoing since 2020, the Polish Commissioner for Human Rights recently stated that the disclosure of land register numbers can lead to obtaining a large amount of personal data contained in the registers. In his opinion, general access to such detailed data harms and significantly restricts the informational autonomy of individuals.

The Commissioner’s view confirms the position of the Polish Data Protection Authority, which, in an administrative decision dated August 24th, 2020, ordered the Polish General Surveyor to cease making land register numbers available on the website “GEOPORTAL2”. He also imposed a fine of PLN 100,000 for violating the principle of lawfulness under Articles 5 para. 1 lit. a, 6 para. 1 GDPR, as there was no legal basis for the processing.

The decision was justified by the fact that land register numbers allow indirect identification of property owners and are therefore considered personal data. Moreover, the publication of these enables access to further data such as national ID number or property address. This may lead to a variety of dangers associated with the use of such data, in particular identity theft or impersonation for criminal purposes.

This opinion was also held by the Polish Voivodeship Administrative Court in Warsaw, which on May 5th, 2021, dismissed the Surveyor’s complaint against the decision of the Polish Data Protection Authority.

Officers’ data leaked in Poland

28. May 2021

The Polish Personal Data Protection Office (UODO) has received a notification of a data breach involving the disclosure of personal data of uniformed services officers. The case is currently being analyzed and supplemented with additional materials and information that shall clarify all its circumstances.

The data controller also notified other authorities about the incident. Among these are the police, the Governmental Computer Security Incident Response Team (CSIRT NASK) and the National Public Prosecutor’s Office. The controller informed UODO that the individuals whose data was subject to the breach would be notified individually through the officers’ home units. Nevertheless, many aspects are still unclear. Therefore, in the course of the investigation, UODO sent a letter to the data controller asking for explanations related to the data breach. Any further action will depend on the information provided by the data controller.

As a result of this situation, UODO emphasises that there is a risk associated with the possibility of unauthorized use of the officers’ personal data, which may involve tangible harm to them. Such activity may include (identity) fraud and invasion of privacy.

In this respect, UODO reminds what actions should be taken to minimize the negative consequences of such a breach. First of all, one should be very careful when providing data via the Internet. Furthermore, it is important to carefully analyse all content included e.g. in SMS messages or e-mails in order to avoid phishing attacks in particular, the aim of which is to obtain additional personal data. In this connection, materials were provided by UODO with further tips on how to reduce the risk of identity theft.