Brussels, 09/07/2015 (Agence Europe) - Public institutions must not send personal data, such as information on income, to other public institutions without previously informing the individual concerned. However, that person's consent for the transfer of data is not required.
Such was the opinion delivered by Advocate General Pedro Cruz Villalon on Thursday 9 July for the EU Court of Justice in a case (C-201/14) in which a Romanian court asked if a tax administration could send information on the incomes of individuals to the social security office without the individuals having been informed or having given their consent.
The Advocate General noted that Directive 95/46/EC on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data requires that people be informed when public institutions share their personal data, including on the use that is to be made of the data and the types of data processed. A national law, such as Romania's, which puts in place a general obligation for public institutions to collaborate, must not ignore this requirement, particularly with regard to information on income, he said.
The individuals' consent for their data to be processed is not required, in the Advocate General's view. The directive allows the data to be processed where that is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest entrusted to the party responsible for the processing. In the case at issue, this condition is respected, the Advocate General said. In delivering his opinion, he argued that the transfer between the tax administration and the social security office of information on the incomes of self-employed workers may be needed to establish that they are insured. (Jan Kordys)