Czech Personal Data Protection Authority investigating whether Czech Prison Service broke the "muzzle" law
A week ago the Czech Personal Data Protection Authority (Úřad pro ochranu osobních údajů – ÚOOÚ) began to investigate whether yet a third state body may have violated the "muzzle" law in relation to the arson case in Vítkov na Opavsku. This time the charges concern the Czech Prison Service (Vězeňská služba – VS), according to the Czech daily Právo.
The charges concern allegations that the Prison Service published a report on its web pages on 23 April in which it gave the full name of the man whose prison term Czech President Václav Klaus had suspended. The Prison Service also reported that the man was the father of the child burned during the arson attack on a Roma family in Vítkov. The "muzzle" law states that it is not permitted to publish the personal data for victims of some crimes without their consent or that of their legal representative.
The ÚOOÚ had previously investigated whether the Office of the President of the Republic violated the "muzzle" law by publishing the man’s name when Klaus suspended his serving of the prison term. The authority eventually came to the conclusion that it had not. The ÚOOÚ also said Czech Human Rights and Minorities Minister Michael Kocáb did not violate the law when he published the first name of the child who was injured during the attack.
In the case of the Prison Service, according to the paper, the data protectors are not so sure. "The authority concluded that given that the name and surname of the victim were reported together with his place of residence and a description of the specific crime, the law may have been violated. The authority is considering its next steps," ÚOOÚ spokesperson Hana Štěpánková told Právo.
According to Prison Service spokesperson Robert Káčer, the Prison Service has defended its actions, claiming to have the man’s written consent to the publishing of his personal information. Nevertheless, last week he told the daily that the information available on the Prison Service’s web page has been changed.
