Privacy Breach Sparks Complaints Against European Parliament

Austrian advocacy group NOYB has lodged two complaints with the EU privacy watchdog against the European Parliament for inadequate data protection. The complaints, representing four employees, follow a data breach affecting over 8,000 staff members' personal information. NOYB calls for GDPR compliance and possible penalties.

Austrian advocacy group NOYB has filed two complaints with the EU privacy watchdog against the European Parliament, accusing it of inadequately protecting employees' personal data, the group announced on Thursday.

Led by privacy activist Max Schrems, NOYB filed the complaints on behalf of four employees due to a data breach in the parliament's recruiting platform. The breach compromised sensitive data including passports, criminal records, and marriage certificates of more than 8,000 staff. NOYB criticized the parliament for discovering the breach months after it occurred and still not identifying its cause.

"This breach comes after repeated cybersecurity incidents in EU institutions over the past year," said NOYB data protection lawyer Lorea Mendiguren. "The Parliament has an obligation to ensure proper security measures, given that its employees are likely targets for bad actors."

The European Parliament was initially unavailable for comment. NOYB contends that the parliament is not adhering to the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and urges the European Data Protection Supervisor to enforce compliance, potentially with a fine.

(With inputs from agencies.)