Who was sanctioned, and for what?

Hospital staff opened a colleague's electronic health record to organise duty rosters during Covid rather than for treatment purposes. Technical barriers limiting access to treating staff were lacking; the Italian data protection authority (Garante per la protezione dei dati personali) imposed 24,000 EUR (Provvedimento No. 616).

Authority / court

Garante per la protezione dei dati personali

Area of law

Data protection · Employee data

Legal basis

Art. 5 Abs. 1 lit. a, b, c, f, Art. 9, 25, 32 DSGVO; Art. 75 Codice privacy; Linee guida dossier sanitario

Action

Fine

Status of proceedings

unknown

Sector

Healthcare

Published

11 Sep 2026

Checked against the official source on 25 Sep 2026 · Direct link

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In summer 2025, an attacker gained access to the private hospital's electronic patient record system and obtained data on 524,867 patients and 202,246 trusted persons. There was no VPN or multi-factor authentication for external users, no appropriate access control and no detection of suspicious activity; the trusted persons were not notified. France's data protection authority (Commission nationale de l'informatique et des libertés, CNIL) imposed a fine of 500,000 EUR (SAN-2026-009).

Authority / court

Commission nationale de l'informatique et des libertés (CNIL)

Area of law

Data protection · Data breaches and data security

Legal basis

DSGVO Art. 32, Art. 34

Action

Fine

Status of proceedings

final

Sector

Healthcare

Published

3 Sep 2026

Checked against the official source on 25 Sep 2026 · Direct link

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From May to the end of August 2024, the public hospital accidentally published on its website a surgery list containing patients' telephone numbers, illnesses and planned procedures; a member of the public found the document via Google. The Hellenic Data Protection Authority imposed a total of 25,000 EUR: 10,000 EUR for inadequate security, 2,000 EUR for the late notification, 10,000 EUR for failing to notify the data subjects and 3,000 EUR for missing contact details of the data protection officer (DPO).

Authority / court

Αρχή Προστασίας Δεδομένων Προσωπικού Χαρακτήρα (Hellenic Data Protection Authority)

Area of law

Data protection · Data breaches and data security

Legal basis

DSGVO Art. 5 Abs. 1 lit. f, 32 Abs. 1, 33 Abs. 1, 34 Abs. 1, 12, 13 i. V. m. 37 (Entscheidung 13/2026)

Action

Fine

Status of proceedings

final

Sector

Healthcare

Checked against the official source on 25 Sep 2026 · Direct link

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The starting point was a complaint about incomplete disclosure of patient data; the clinic left several requests from the supervisory authority unanswered. The Andmekaitse Inspektsioon (Estonian Data Protection Inspectorate, AKI) ordered it to revise its contracts with Align Technology (Invisalign) with regard to the GDPR roles (Art. 26/28 GDPR), to adapt the consent form and the privacy notices in accordance with Art. 7, 9, 13 and 14 GDPR and to publish them in Estonian; non-compliance is subject to a penalty payment of 1,000 EUR per item.

Authority / court

Andmekaitse Inspektsioon (AKI)

Area of law

Data protection · Data processors

Legal basis

§ 56 Abs. 1 IKS; Art. 58 Abs. 2 lit. d DSGVO i. V. m. Art. 5 Abs. 1 lit. a, 7, 9, 13, 14, 26, 28 DSGVO

Action

Order

Status of proceedings

unknown

Sector

Healthcare

Checked against the official source on 25 Sep 2026 · Direct link

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A general practitioner who had no longer been treating the complainant since January 2023 accessed his health data (findings, prescriptions) on the national e-health platform EESZT a total of 47 times via his practice software until August 2024 and did not respond to an access request. The Hungarian data protection authority (Nemzeti Adatvédelmi és Információszabadság Hatóság, NAIH) found infringements of Art. 5(2), 6(1), 9(2), 12(2) and 15(1) GDPR, ordered compliance with the access request and imposed 500,000 HUF.

Authority / court

Nemzeti Adatvédelmi és Információszabadság Hatóság (NAIH)

Area of law

Data protection · Data subject rights and transparency

Legal basis

DSGVO Art. 5 Abs. 2, 6 Abs. 1, 9 Abs. 2, 12 Abs. 2, 15 Abs. 1 (NAIH-273-7/2026)

Action

Fine

Status of proceedings

final

Sector

Healthcare

Published

20 Mar 2026

Original amount 500,000 HUF, converted at the ECB reference rate of 20 Mar 2026.

Checked against the official source on 25 Sep 2026 · Direct link

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The clinic’s managing director himself reported that a former employee had copied contact details and patient records of all patients and poached them for a new clinic. In the subsequent investigation, the clinic did not fully answer the requests of the Romanian data protection authority (ANSPDCP) despite a reprimand and an order; the authority therefore imposed 10,190 lei (2,000 EUR). Date = publication of the press release; according to the authority, the investigation was concluded in February 2026.

Authority / court

Autoritatea Națională de Supraveghere a Prelucrării Datelor cu Caracter Personal (ANSPDCP)

Area of law

Data protection

Legal basis

Art. 58 Abs. 1, Art. 83 Abs. 5 lit. e DSGVO

Action

Fine

Status of proceedings

unknown

Sector

Healthcare

Published

20 Feb 2026

Original amount 10,190 RON, converted at the ECB reference rate of 20 Feb 2026.

Checked against the official source on 25 Sep 2026 · Direct link

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Following the tragedy at the Lapu-Lapu Day festival in 2025, 36 employees of three health authorities accessed patient data of 16 admitted persons without authorisation in 71 instances. Those affected were not informed without undue delay; the Information and Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia (OIPC BC) made nine recommendations, including automated access monitoring and deterrent disciplinary measures.

Authority / court

Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia (OIPC BC)

Area of law

Data protection · Data breaches and data security

Legal basis

Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA) BC, s. 25.1

Action

Other

Status of proceedings

unknown

Sector

Healthcare

Culpability

intentional

Mitigating circumstances

Appropriate safeguards were in place; the authorities responded quickly and accepted all recommendations.

Published

18 Feb 2026

Checked against the official source on 25 Sep 2026 · Direct link

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Despite access requests, two patients did not receive copies of their scan files at the end of treatment; the practice responded only sluggishly to enquiries and did not attend an appointment with the supervisory authority. The Andmekaitse Inspektsioon (Estonian Data Protection Inspectorate, AKI) ordered disclosure under Art. 15(3) GDPR or a reasoned refusal and threatened a penalty payment of 2,000 EUR.

Authority / court

Andmekaitse Inspektsioon (AKI)

Area of law

Data protection · Data subject rights and transparency

Legal basis

§ 56 Abs. 1 IKS; Art. 58 Abs. 2 lit. c, Art. 12 Abs. 4, Art. 15 DSGVO

Action

Order

Status of proceedings

unknown

Sector

Healthcare

Checked against the official source on 25 Sep 2026 · Direct link

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For almost six years, the chair of the management board of the medical company was also its data protection officer; this came to light after a report that a patient had been handed documents relating to another person. Poland’s data protection authority (UODO) found a conflict of interest and imposed 11,365 PLN.

Authority / court

Prezes Urzędu Ochrony Danych Osobowych (UODO)

Area of law

Data protection

Legal basis

Art. 38 Abs. 6 DSGVO (DKN.5131.7.2025)

Action

Fine

Status of proceedings

final

Sector

Healthcare

Mitigating circumstances

An independent external data protection officer was appointed in July 2024.

Published

29 Sep 2025

Original amount 11,365 PLN, converted at the ECB reference rate of 12 Sep 2025.

Checked against the official source on 25 Sep 2026 · Direct link

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On 1 August 2024, a doctor accessed e-prescriptions and medication data of a former employee twelve times in the ELGA electronic health record without any treatment relationship. The Austrian Data Protection Authority (Datenschutzbehörde, DSB) imposed 1,000 EUR (plus 100 EUR in costs); confession and a clean record were mitigating factors.

Authority / court

Datenschutzbehörde

Area of law

Data protection · Employee data

Legal basis

DSGVO Art. 5 Abs. 1 lit. a und b, Art. 6 Abs. 1, Art. 9 Abs. 1 und 2

Action

Fine

Status of proceedings

final

Sector

Healthcare

Culpability

negligent

Mitigating circumstances

No previous record, negligence, full cooperation and confession.

Checked against the official source on 25 Sep 2026 · Direct link

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From April to September 2023, attackers used reused credentials to access data on 155,592 people in the United Kingdom, including ancestry, family trees and health information. There was no MFA, no secure password rules and no effective monitoring; despite anomalies in July 2023, the full investigation only began in October. Joint investigation by the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) with the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.

Authority / court

Information Commissioner's Office (ICO)

Area of law

Data protection · Data breaches and data security

Legal basis

UK GDPR Art. 5 Abs. 1 lit. f, Art. 32 Abs. 1

Action

Fine

Status of proceedings

unknown

Sector

Healthcare

Culpability

negligent

Published

17 Jun 2025

Original amount 2,310,000 GBP, converted at the ECB reference rate of 5 Jun 2025.

Checked against the official source on 25 Sep 2026 · Direct link

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In 2018–2022, the online pharmacy transmitted purchase data, including data on prescription medicines, to the tracking providers via Google and Meta tracking. The sanctions board of the Tietosuojavaltuutetun toimisto (Office of the Data Protection Ombudsman) imposed 1.1 million EUR and a reprimand; on 1 June 2026 the Helsingin hallinto-oikeus (Helsinki Administrative Court) upheld the infringement but annulled the fine because it was unclear whether a fine may be imposed on the university pharmacy at all (not final).

Authority / court

Tietosuojavaltuutetun toimisto – seuraamuskollegio; Helsingin hallinto-oikeus

Area of law

Data protection · Cookies and tracking

Legal basis

DSGVO Art. 9, Art. 25, Art. 32

Action

Fine

Status of proceedings

overturned

Sector

Healthcare

Published

4 Jun 2025

Amount in EUR; no ECB reference rate is available for this currency.

Checked against the official source on 25 Sep 2026 · Direct link

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Despite being asked to do so, a healthcare provider (name redacted) did not correct a patient’s address, so that health reports were sent to third parties, and used address data from the electoral register without a legal basis. The Information and Data Protection Commissioner (IDPC) issued a reprimand, ordered rectification, erasure of the register data and the designation of a data protection officer, and imposed fines of 12,500, 5,000 and 2,500 EUR.

Authority / court

Information and Data Protection Commissioner (IDPC)

Area of law

Data protection · Data subject rights and transparency

Legal basis

Art. 5 Abs. 1 lit. a und d, Art. 6 Abs. 1, Art. 14, 16, 37 Abs. 1 lit. c DSGVO

Action

Fine

Status of proceedings

unknown

Sector

Healthcare

Checked against the official source on 25 Sep 2026 · Direct link

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A limited company operating a diagnostic laboratory (name pseudonymised), which during the pandemic carried out up to 45,000 PCR analyses a day with around 200 employees, had appointed its managing director as data protection officer at the same time. Because of the resulting conflict of interest, the Austrian data protection authority (Datenschutzbehörde, DSB) imposed 5,000 EUR; the penalty decision is final.

Authority / court

Datenschutzbehörde (DSB)

Area of law

Data protection

Legal basis

Art. 37, Art. 38 Abs. 6 DSGVO

Action

Fine

Status of proceedings

final

Sector

Healthcare

Employees

50 to 249

Liability of senior managers

The managing director was also appointed as data protection officer – an impermissible conflict of interest.

Checked against the official source on 25 Sep 2026 · Direct link

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The cancer charity reported thefts of computers from its offices in Copenhagen and Aarhus as well as phishing attacks in 2019 and 2020; according to the Danish Data Protection Agency (Datatilsynet), at least 1,448 people were affected, some with health data. Although the organisation itself had considered multi-factor authentication necessary after an attack in 2018, this and encryption of the computers were lacking; Københavns Byret (Copenhagen City Court) issued a final judgment ordering it to pay 75,000 DKK (Datatilsynet’s recommendation and the prosecution’s request: 800,000 DKK).

Authority / court

Københavns Byret (auf Anzeige der Datatilsynet)

Area of law

Data protection · Data breaches and data security

Legal basis

DSGVO Art. 32 Abs. 1; databeskyttelsesloven § 41

Action

Fine

Status of proceedings

final

Sector

Healthcare

Repeat case

yes

Original amount 75,000 DKK, converted at the ECB reference rate of 1 Oct 2024.

Checked against the official source on 25 Sep 2026 · Direct link

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The Datu valsts inspekcija (Latvian Data State Inspectorate, DVI) examined several complaints against the state hospital, including about the processing of patient and health data by a physician assistant and about an unanswered access request. Because the hospital did not provide the requested information, the authority imposed 2,000 EUR for breach of the duty to cooperate.

Authority / court

Datu valsts inspekcija (DVI)

Area of law

Data protection

Legal basis

Art. 58 Abs. 1, Art. 83 Abs. 5 lit. e DSGVO

Action

Fine

Status of proceedings

unknown

Sector

Healthcare

Culpability

intentional

Checked against the official source on 25 Sep 2026 · Direct link

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In 2019, a specialist hospital in the Rijeka area (name not published) irretrievably lost patients’ radiological images because it did not make backup copies, and did not report the incident although management had been informed. The Agencija za zaštitu osobnih podataka (Croatian Personal Data Protection Agency, AZOP) imposed 190,000 EUR, including for a missing data processing agreement, call recordings without a legal basis and failure to involve the data protection officer.

Authority / court

Agencija za zaštitu osobnih podataka (AZOP)

Area of law

Data protection · Data breaches and data security

Legal basis

Art. 5 Abs. 1 lit. e, Art. 6, 12, 13, 28 Abs. 3, 32 Abs. 1 lit. b, 33 Abs. 1, 38 Abs. 1 DSGVO

Action

Fine

Status of proceedings

unknown

Sector

Healthcare

Published

13 Sep 2024

Checked against the official source on 25 Sep 2026 · Direct link

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