Two
sanctions
, for a total of 110 thousand euros, were
imposed by the Privacy Guarantor on the Ministry of the Interior
for the dissemination
by two police headquarters, during press conferences,
of images and videos of people arrested or detained, damaging their dignity
, without that the disclosure was justified by the need for justice or police.
In the first episode, the video, published on some internet sites and newspapers, showed the faces in the foreground and the names of eight people arrested and the images of the moments in which they were conducted (in this case, with their faces covered) by the agents of police in service cars.
The video, freely visible for over 5 years on the Facebook profile of a police headquarters, had been removed after the intervention of the Authority.
In imposing the sanction of 60 thousand euros for this episode, the Guarantor held that - in the light of national and European legislation, and of the jurisprudence of the Court of Cassation and the ECHR - the images, the characteristics of the frame and the presence of the logo of the State Police, were essentially similar to mug shots,
The dissemination of mug shots - underlines the Authority - is permitted only if there are purposes of justice and police or reasons of public interest.
During the investigation, however, no need emerged to disclose the images in question, in addition to the other information provided to the press.
The police
headquarters thus
incurred unnecessary treatment, excessive and harmful
to the dignity of the person, which must be protected in every situation, especially, as underlined by the Supreme Court, when it is in a situation of momentary inferiority and, for example, both shooting in a state of subjection (forced position of the subject, portrayed in the foreground without his consent, objectively humiliating situation).
In the second case, another police headquarters disclosed to the press, again without any need, the personal details and the foreground image of a person already in prison to give the news of a further restrictive measure issued against him. .
The Guarantor also considered this disclosure of personal data illegal and applied a pecuniary sanction of 50 thousand euros to the ministry.
