Municipality fined for leaking woman's health data

Hillerød Municipality has been ordered to pay 30,000 Danish kroner in compensation to a woman whose sensitive health information was inadvertently disclosed to her husband's ex-wife. The decision was made by five judges in the Supreme Court, significantly increasing the amount awarded by the Eastern High Court, which had previously set the compensation at 2,500 kroner.

The breach of privacy occurred in April 2019. A municipal employee made an error while processing a request for access to public records submitted by the husband's ex-wife. The husband and his ex-wife share a child, and the husband, along with his current wife (the plaintiff), had applied for a subsidy for their child's boarding school stay. Information related to this application was submitted to the municipality.

The Supreme Court's ruling underscores the seriousness with which data privacy is treated in Denmark. The substantial increase in compensation reflects the gravity of the error and the potential distress caused by the unauthorized disclosure of personal health data.