Supreme Court acquits women over municipal data snooping

Denmark’s Supreme Court has acquitted two women who accessed records without a work-related reason in a municipal data system, ruling that their conduct was not serious enough to constitute abuse of office. DR reported the decision.

The court’s rulings on Wednesday upheld acquittals by the Viborg District Court and the Western High Court. The cases date back to 2023, when a random check revealed the women’s access to the system while they were employed by Viborg Municipality.

One woman made between 80 and 90 searches, while the other made at least 241. They accessed information including people’s addresses, marital status and other household members’ details. Both admitted making the searches and said they had done so out of curiosity.

The women were charged with abuse of office under Section 155 of Denmark’s Criminal Code, but not with violating data protection rules. The Supreme Court said less serious breaches of official duties do not fall under the abuse-of-office provision, so each case required a specific assessment.

The courts considered that the women had not processed the information or passed it on to others, as well as the nature of the records and the women’s explanations. The Supreme Court agreed that the conduct did not amount to a sufficiently serious infringement of private or public rights under the provision.