Tag Archives: Italian Data Protection Authority

Processing of personal and health data through apps and online platforms aimed at connecting HCPs and patients: the new digest of the Italian DPA

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On March 2024, the Italian Data Protection Authority (“Italian DPA”) has issued a new digest (“Digest”) relating to the processing of personal data, whether or not concerning health data pursuant to section 9 of the GDPR, carried out through the utilization of platforms, accessible through apps or web pages (“Platforms”), that aim to facilitate connection between healthcare professionals (“HCPs”) and patients.

The use of such Platforms poses high risks to the protection and security of patients’ personal data, and in particular health-related data, given that the latter are subject to an enhanced protection regime set forth by section 9 of the GDPR. 

The Digest seeks to summarize the applicable data protection rules that may be followed, and defines the roles of the parties, as well as the legal bases, applicable to (i) the processing of personal data of the users by Platform’s owners; (ii) the processing of HCP’s personal data by Platform’s owners; and (iii) the processing of health data of the patients by the Platform’s owner and by the HCPs.

Additional guidance is provided as to:

  • The necessity for the Platform’s owner to carry out (and periodically update) a data protection impact assessment (DPIA) pursuant to section 35 GDPR, since the use of Platforms determine a “high risk” processing of personal data, as such kind of treatment automatically meets the criteria issued by the European Data Protection Board for the identification of the list of data processing that may be deemed subject to the duty to perform a DPIA;
  • Which information notices should be provided, by who and to whom, as well as the contents that such information notices should have in each case, according to sections 13 and 14 GDPR;
  • The specific rules applicable to cross-border data transfers and data transfer to third countries.

Lastly, the Digest includes a list of the most common measures that are taken by the data controllers to ensure an appropriate level of technical and organizational measures to meet the GDPR requirements, such as encryption, verification of the qualification of the HCPs that seek to enroll within the Platform; strengthened authentication systems, monitoring systems aimed at preventing unauthorized access or loss of data.

The Digest should be very welcomed by the Platform’s owners, as it now gives a reliable and complete legal frame that may be followed in order to set up a Platform in a way which is compliant with the GDPR principles.

Make Sure Employees’ E-Mail Metadata Are Deleted

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New guidelines have been issued by the Italian Data Protection Authority, or Garante, regarding processing of metadata relating to employees’ work emails. The Garante worries that, absent a specific agreement with trade unions, processing of such employees’ metadata may trigger risks of systematic monitoring, unlawful processing and excessive data retention. Therefore, they need to be deleted within a few hours/days and up to 7 days. Companies, who are acting as data controllers of such employees’ metadata, must ensure that their service providers carry out such deletions, making sure that default settings that prolong the processing are deactivated. They must also reflect in the information notice to employees the specific use of technologies that impact the processing of their data.

AI and Healthcare: Recommendations by the Italian Data Protection Authority

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The use of Artificial Intelligence in healthcare continues to grow and it is poised to reach 188 billion by 2030. It also raises many concerns.

The Italian data protection authority (Garante) has recently issued recommendations based on 10 points, which can be found here.

The Garante particularly insists on:

  1. Human in the loop: a human being must be involved in the control, validation or change of the automatic decision;
  2. No algorithmic discrimination: trustworthy AI systems should reduce mistakes and avoid discrimination due to inaccurate processing of health data;
  3. Data quality: health data must be correct and updated. Representation of interested subjects must correctly reflect the population.
  4. Transparency: the interested subject must be able to know the decisional processes based on automated processes and must receive information on the logic adopted so as to be able to understand it (easier said than done!). The Garante also requires that at least an excerpt of the Data Protection Impact Assessment is published.

Other recommendations are not surprising for anyone familiar with the GDPR:

  • Profiling and decisions based on automated processes must be expressly allowed by Member State’s laws.
  • The principles of privacy by design and privacy by default obviously play a big role in healthcare AI systems.
  • Roles of controller and processor must be correctly allocated: in particular, the public administration must ensure that external entities processing data are appointed as data processors.
  • A Data Protection Impact Assessment must be carried out and any risks must be evaluated.
  • Integrity, security and confidentiality of data must be ensured.

Striving for genuine transparency in connection with very complex and rapidly evolving algorythms is not going to be an easy task for the data controller. Similarly, understanding how AI works in a healthcare setting is not going to be simple for patients.

GARANTE VS. CHATGPT: LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

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1. An Order to Stop ChatGPT

On March 30, 2023 the Italian Data Protection Authority (“Garante”) issued an order by which it temporarily banned the ChatGPT platform (“ChatGPT”) operated by OpenAI LLC (“OpenAI”). The Garante in fact regards ChatGPT as infringing Articles 5, 6, 8, 13 and 25 of the GDPR. In particular:

  • No Information.  OpenAI does not provide any information to users, whose data is collected by OpenAI and processed via ChatGPT;
  • No Legal Basis.  There is no appropriate legal basis in relation to the collection of personal data and their processing for the purpose of training the algorithms underlying the operation of ChatGPT;
  • No Check of User’s Age.  OpenAI does not foresee any verification of users’ age in relation to the ChatGPT service, nor any filters prohibiting the use for users aged under 13.

Given that, the Garante has immediately banned the use of ChatGPT, and OpenAI has blocked the access to ChatGPT to the Italian people.

2. Measures Offered by OpenAI

On April 11, 2023, in light of the willingness expressed by OpenAI to put in place measures to protect the rights and the freedom of the users of ChatGPT, the Garante issued a new order, which opened the possibly to re-assess ChatGPT if OpenAI adopts the following measures:

  1. to draft and publish an information notice to data subjects, which should be linked so that it can be read before the registration;
  2. to make available, at least to data subjects who are connected from Italy, a tool to exercise their right to (i) object, (ii) obtain a rectification, insofar as such data have been obtained from third parties, or (iii) the erasure of their personal data;
  3. to change the legal basis of the processing of users’ personal data for the purpose of algorithmic training, by removing any reference to contract and instead relying on consent or legitimate interest;
  4. to include a request to all users connecting from Italy to go through an “age gate” and to submit a plan for the deployment of age verification tools; and
  5. to promote a non-marketing-oriented information campaign by May 15, 2023 on all the main Italian mass media, the content of which shall be agreed upon with the Italian Authority.

OpenAI has until April 30, 2023 to comply (until May 31, 2023 to prepare a plan for age verification tools). The objections by the Garante have been echoed by other European Union data protection authorities. The European Data Protection Board will be attempting to solve the dispute within two months and launched a dedicated task force on ChatGPT “to exchange information on possible enforcement actions conducted by data protection authorities”

Italian Transparency Act: the Opinion of the Italian Data Protection Authority

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The Italian Data Protection Authority has issued its opinion on the data protection implications relating to the new information duties set forth on employers by legislative decree 104/2022.

On August 13, 2022, legislative decree 104/2022 (“Transparency Act”) has entered into force. It provides for a new set of mandatory information that the employer must communicate to its employees at the time of their onboarding. On January 24, 2023, the Italian Data Protection Authority (“Garante”) issued its opinion about compliance of such new information duties with the provisions of the relevant data protection legislation.

In particular, the focus of the Garante was centered on the mandatory communication that, according to section 4, paragraph 8 of the Transparency Act, the employer must give to the employees if any “decision or monitoring automated system is used for the sake of providing information which is relevant for the hiring, management or termination of the employment relationship, for the assignment of tasks and duties, or for the surveillance, evaluation and fulfillment of contractual duties by the employee”. The Garante has stated that:

  • GDPR Sanctions Apply in case of Breach.  The implementation of any decision or monitoring automated system must be made in compliance and within the limits set forth by the applicable labor law provisions, and in particular law 300/1970. Such labor law provisions, which allow the implementation of automated systems only if certain conditions occur, must be deemed as providing “more specific rules to ensure the protection of the rights and freedoms in respect of the processing of employees’ personal data in the employment context” (as per section 88, paragraph 2, of the GDPR), and thus non-compliance with them may lead to administrative fines pursuant to section 83 of the GDPR.
  • Data Processing Impact Analysis (“DPIA”).  The employer, who is subject to the duty of accountability, must assess beforehand if the relevant processing is likely to result “in a high risk to the rights and freedoms of natural persons responsibility”, and thus requires a preliminary data processing impact analysis under section 35 of the GDPR. In such regard, the Garante has clarified that data subjects (i.e., employees) should be deemed as “vulnerable”, and that the processing of their data with automated systems is very likely to meet the conditions that make the DPIA mandatory according to the guidelines on the DPIA issued by the WP 29 on April 4, 2017.
  • Compliance with the “privacy by default” and “privacy by design” principles.  Employers must implement appropriate technical and organizational measures and integrate the necessary safeguards into the processing so that to protect the rights of data subjects (privacy by design). Moreover, the controller shall ensure that, by default, only personal data which are necessary for the specific purpose of the processing are processed (privacy by default), and should then refrain from collecting personal data that are not strictly related to the specific purpose of the relevant processing.
  • Update of the register of processing activities (“ROPA”).  The employer must indicate the processing of data through automated systems within his/her ROPA.

Need any further assistance on the matter? Don’ hesitate to reach us out!

Data Protection Day 2021: What You May Have Missed (while busy celebrating Data Protection Day)

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This year’s celebrations for Data Protection Day may have been a bit toned down. But you still may have been so busy celebrating that you may have missed a couple of news from the (data privacy) world.

First, the EDPB’s Guidelines 01/2021 on Examples regarding Data Breach Notification are out and open for comments until March 2nd.  The document can be used as a very practical guide for whoever is involved in data processing activities. It is aimed at helping data controllers in deciding how to handle data breaches and what factors to consider during risk assessment. The Guidelines reflect the experiences of the European supervisory authorities since the GDPR became applicable and they are full of cases and examples which make them, admittedly, a practice-oriented, case-based guide for controllers and processors. So, are you curious to know what to do in case of a ransomware attack with backup but without exfiltration in a hospital? Or perhaps in case of a credential stuffing attack on a banking website? Or you’re “just” trying to figure out what to do in case of mistakes in post and mail?  Then, check out the guidelines!

Meanwhile, in Italy, the Italian Data Protection Authority gave its favourable opinion to the proposed reform of the Italian Registro Pubblico delle Opposizioni, a service designed for the protection of data-subjects, whose telephone number is publicly available but who wish not to receive unsolicited direct marketing calls from an operator. Nevertheless, the Italian Data Protection Authority specified that such service, essentially based on a list of express dissents, only applies to marketing activities carried out by human operators and cannot be extended to automated calls. The Italian Data Protection Authority, by doing so, confirms that marketing activities carried out through automated systems must be subject to stricter measures and always require express consent, given their highly invasive nature. So: Humans 1, Automated Calling Machines: 0.

Italy’s First Multi-Million GDPR Sanctions

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Before last week, the Italian Data Protection Authority (“DPA”) only applied one (modest) GDPR sanction, which placed Italy at the bottom of the lists of EU Countries per number and value of GDPR sanctions applied.

In addition to the great differences in numbers and figures – for example, of soon-to-leave UK (sanctions’ amounts in Euro: Italy 30k vs. UK 315mln+) or Spain (number of sanctions: Italy 1 vs. Spain 43) – it is interesting noting that, until last Friday, the most active European DPAs (UK, France, Germany, Spain) tended to target big players in the private sector (i.e. British Airways, Marriot International, Google), as opposed to Italy’s attention to websites affiliated to a political party and run through the platform named Rousseau.

Last Friday, however, a significant change in such scenario occurred. The Italian DPA issued a press release announcing two GDPR sanctions applied to Eni Gas e Luce, a fully-owned subsidiary of Italy’s State-controlled multinational oil and gas company, Eni S.p.A., for Euro 8.5 and 3 million.

The first sanction of Euro 8.5 million has been imposed for unlawful processing in connection with telemarketing and tele-selling activities. The inspections and inquiries had been carried out by the authorities as a response to several alerts and complaints that followed GDPR D-Day.

Violations included: advertising calls made without consent or despite data subjects’ refusal, absence of technical and organisational measures to take into account the instructions provided by data subjects, excessive data retention periods, obtainment of personal data of possible future customers from third parties which did not obtain consent.

The second sanction of Euro 3 million relates to unsolicited contracts for the supply of electricity and gas. Many individuals complained that they have learned about their new contracts only upon receipt of the termination letter from the previous supplier or of the first electricity bill from Eni Gas e Luce. Complaints included alleged incorrect data and false signatures.

About 7200 consumers have been affected. The Italian DPA also underlined the role of third-party contractors, acting on behalf of Eni Gas e Luce, in perpetrating the violations.

Both decisions are quite significant as, for the very first time, the Italian DPA provides its indications and illustrates its approach in dealing with data processing and violations by large-sized companies operating in the private sector, within the GDPR regulatory framework.

Don’t Forget to Close E-mail Accounts of Employees who Leave. And Happy Holidays!

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The Italian Data Protection Authority has recently reiterated what to do when an employee leaves the company, i.e.:

  • Close down email accounts attributable to the former employee;
  • Adopt automatic response systems indicating alternative addresses to those who contact the mailbox; and
  • Introduce technical measures to prevent the display of incoming messages to unauthorized subjects.

The automatic forwarding of emails to colleagues of the former employee amounts to a breach of principles of data protection, which impose on the employer the protection of confidentiality even of the former worker.

In the case decided by the Authority the e-mail account had remained active for over a year and a half after the end of the employment relationship and before its elimination, which took place only after a formal complaint filed by the worker.

Our life sciences team at Gitti and Partners wishes you a relaxing Christmas break and a 2020 full of happy innovation, useful technology and interesting legal developments!

May 25, 2018: Did You Survive the GDPR D-Day?

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Last May 25 the GDPR came into force. It was hard not to notice given the inundation of emails that everyone received, as well as the clear signs of burnout in the eyes of GDPR experts.

Here are my personal top 3 takeaways from that experience:

  • The flood of data protection emails received on May 25 showed me how my data had been disseminated all over the place and archived for a really long time. I had some recollection of only a few of those who wrote me to share their most recent privacy policy (and remind me how they deeply, deeply care about privacy!), since many may have bought, inherited or just collected my data a long time ago. It reminded me that those data subjects’ rights are an empowering tool, which I intend to use more frequently in the future.

 

  • The Law (capital “L”) showed its full might and power on May 25, something which surprised even those, like me, who work with legal requirements all day every day. Look at what companies do when you threaten a 4% fine on their worldwide turnover! (Incidentally, this reminded me why politics is important and why people who are indifferent to politics are wrong: this stuff does make a difference in our lives).

 

  • The Italian authorities (mostly the government and parliament) lost yet another opportunity to be helpful to citizens. We had been waiting for a national data protection law for months, but no such law was enacted before May 25. Until that happens, Italians are supposed to assess, for each and every provision of the Data Protection Code, whether or not it conflicts with the GDPR. How practical.

2017 New Year’s Privacy Resolution: Road to Compliance with the New European Privacy Framework

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Year 2017 already brought to us some exciting change. The beginning of the year is also the perfect time for appraisals of the past and resolutions for the near future. Whether we see it as a welcome enhancement of personal data rights or simply as another burdensome European set of requirements, 2016 delivered the new European General Data Protection Regulation (Regulation EU 2016/679, “GDPR”). Already 233 days passed since GDPR entered into force and 498 days are left until the new Regulation will start to apply on May 25, 2018. Roughly, one third of the time given to comply with the new regulatory framework has already gone by. Then, perhaps, the beginning of 2017 can be a good chance to ask ourselves what has already been done in the first 233 days and what still needs to be done in the future 498 days in order not to miss May 2018’s deadline.

The GDPR imposes a much more burdensome level of compliance requirements to companies acting as data controllers and data processors.

Some of them require the assessment and preparation of organizational and implementing measures that need to be put in place well in advance of May 2018.

  • Data controllers and data processors must appoint a data protection officer (“DPO”). The controller and the processor shall ensure that the DPO is involved, properly and in a timely manner, in all issues which relate to the protection of personal data. The controller and processor shall support the DPO in performing his/her tasks by providing resources necessary to carry out those tasks and access to personal data and processing operations, and to maintain his/her expert knowledge. The controller and processor shall also ensure that the DPO does not receive any instructions regarding the exercise of those tasks. Furthermore, the DPO shall not be dismissed or penalized by the controller or the processor for performing his tasks and shall directly report to the highest management level of the controller or the processor.
  • Data protection by design and by default will have to be implemented. The data controller: (i) both at the time of the determination of the means for processing and at the time of the processing itself, must “implement appropriate technical and organizational measures, such as pseudonymisation, which are designed to implement data-protection principles, such as data minimization, in an effective manner and to integrate the necessary safeguards into the processing in order to meet the requirements of [the GDPR] and protect the rights of data subjects” and (ii) “to implement appropriate technical and organizational measures for ensuring that, by default, only personal data which are necessary for each specific purpose of the processing are processed”.
  • A data protection impact assessment must be carried out. Such impact assessment must contain: a systematic description of the envisaged processing operations and the purposes of the processing, including, where applicable, the legitimate interest pursued by the controller; an assessment of the necessity and proportionality of the processing operations in relation to the purposes; an assessment of the risks to the rights and freedoms of data subjects; the measures envisaged to address the risks, including safeguards, security measures and mechanisms to ensure the protection of personal data and to demonstrate compliance with GDPR.
  • Data controllers must guarantee the effectiveness of the data subject’s right to be forgotten and right to portability. This requires an assessment of the adequacy of the technical and organizational instruments currently available and, possibly, their improvement. More specifically, data controllers must be able to fulfill: (i) in relation to the right to be forgotten, their obligation to “take reasonable steps, including technical measures, to inform controllers which are processing the personal data that the data subject has requested the erasure by such controllers of any links to, or copy or replication of, those personal data”; (ii) as regards to the right to portability, their obligation to allow the data subjects to effectively exercise their right to “receive the personal data concerning him or her, which he or she has provided to a controller, in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format and have the right to transmit those data to another controller”.
  • Data controllers shall notify personal data breaches to the relevant supervisory authority without undue delay and, where feasible, not later than 72 hours after having become aware of it. This imposes on controllers the preparation of appropriate notification forms, as well as organizational measures to guarantee adequate resources to complete such task.
  • The mandatory content of the written contract between the data controller and the data processor requires a revision of all such contracts. They shall include, inter alia, the obligations of the processor to: process the personal data only on documented instructions from the controller, including with regard to transfers of personal data to a third country or an international organization; ensure that persons authorized to process the personal data have committed themselves to confidentiality or are under an appropriate statutory obligation of confidentiality; delete or return all the personal data to the controller after the end of the provision of services relating to processing, including copies; make available to the controller all information necessary to demonstrate compliance with the obligations under GDPR; allow for and contribute to audits, including inspections, conducted by the controller or another auditor mandated by the controller.
  • Information notice forms currently in use will need to be revised. In fact, information to be provided to data subjects must include, inter alia: the contact details of the DPO; the legal basis for the processing; the fact that the controller intends to transfer personal data to a third country or international organization and the existence or absence of an adequacy decision by the Commission; the period for which the personal data will be stored, or if that is not possible, the criteria used to determine that period; the existence of the right to data portability; the existence of the right to withdraw consent at any time for processing based on consent; the existence of the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority; the existence of automated decision-making, including profiling.
  • Data controllers and data processors must keep record of processing activities under their responsibility. Records to be kept by data controllers shall contain all of the following information: the name and contact details of the controller and, where applicable, the joint controller, the controller’s representative and the DPO; the purposes of the processing; a description of the categories of data subjects and of the categories of personal data; the categories of recipients to whom the personal data have been or will be disclosed including recipients in third countries or international organizations; where applicable, transfers of personal data to a third country or an international organization, including the identification of that third country or international organization and the documentation of suitable safeguards; where possible, the envisaged time limits for erasure of the different categories of data; where possible, a general description of the technical and organizational security measures. Records to be kept by data processors shall include: the name and contact details of the processor or processors and of each controller on behalf of which the processor is acting, and, where applicable, of the controller’s or the processor’s representative, and the DPO; the categories of processing carried out on behalf of each controller; where applicable, transfers of personal data to a third country or an international organization, including the identification of that third country or international organization and the documentation of suitable safeguards; where possible, a general description of the technical and organizational security measures. Data controllers and data processors shall therefore dedicate and organize resources to be able to start keeping such records.

All this may appear daunting. Nevertheless, 498 days are more than enough to take all necessary steps, if we let one of our New Year’s resolutions be to timely walk the road to compliance with the GDPR.