Legal provisions on confidentiality
The Act relating to procedure in cases concerning the public administration (the Public Administration Act), in section 13 -13 f, provisions on non-disclosure of confidential information. The main rule appears in §13:
Ҥ 13. (Duty of secrecy).
It is the duty of any person rendering services to, or working for, an administrative agency, to prevent others from gaining access to, or obtaining knowledge of, any matter disclosed to him in the course of his duties concerning:
- an individual's personal affairs, or
- technical devices and procedures, as well as operational or business matters which for competition reasons it is important to keep secret in the interests of the person whom the information concerns.
The term «personal affairs» shall not include place of birth, date of birth, national registration number, nationality, marital status, occupation or place of residence or employment, unless such information discloses a client relationship or other matters that must be considered personal. Moreover, the King may prescribe further regulations concerning what kind of information is to be considered personal, which agencies may give private individuals such information as stated in the preceding sentence and other information concerning an individual's personal status, as well as prescribing the terms and conditions for providing such information.
The duty of secrecy shall continue to apply after the person concerned has terminated his service or work. Nor may he exploit such information as is mentioned in this section in his own business activities or in service or work for others.”
Breach of the duty of secrecy is punishable under the provision of Section 209 of the Criminal Code of 20 May 2005 applies. The law reads as follows:
“A penalty of a fine or imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year shall be applied to any person who reveals information in respect of which he/she has a duty of confidentiality pursuant to statute or regulations, or exploits such information with intent to obtain an illicit gain for himself/herself or for other persons.
The first paragraph applies correspondingly to breach of a duty of confidentiality pursuant to applicable instructions for service or work for a central or local government body.
In the case of a person working or performing a service for a central or local government body, the first and second paragraphs also apply to breach of the duty of confidentiality after conclusion of such service or work.
The same penalty applies for a grossly negligent violation.”