MEP Fined for GDPR Non-Compliance Over Biometric Data Platform
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A Member of European Parliament was fined €6,000 by Cyprus's Data Protection Authority for failing to cooperate with regulatory oversight of his 'Agora' platform, which processed sensitive biometric data and political opinions without a complete Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA). Processing biometric data and political opinions represents a high-risk activity under GDPR, making a thorough DPIA mandatory before launch—not optional or partial. The MEP's refusal to fully comply with suspension requests compounded the violation, demonstrating that non-cooperation with supervisory authorities carries its own legal consequences. This case underscores that no individual or organization—regardless of political status—is exempt from data protection obligations when handling special category data.
Tactical Insight
Immediate actions
- Conduct a full, compliant DPIA before launching any platform that processes biometric data or special category data (e.g., political opinions).
- Respond promptly and fully to Data Protection Authority requests, including suspension orders, to avoid compounding fines for non-cooperation.
Long-term improvements
- Establish a pre-launch data protection review process that mandates DPIA completion as a gate before any high-risk platform goes live.
- Appoint or consult a qualified Data Protection Officer (DPO) to ensure ongoing compliance with GDPR obligations for sensitive data processing.
- Maintain a data processing register that flags special category data types and automatically triggers enhanced compliance reviews.
Detection & governance measures
- Implement periodic internal audits of all active platforms to verify that DPIAs remain current and accurately reflect processing activities.
- Define clear escalation procedures so that regulatory authority communications are triaged and acted upon within mandated timeframes.