Supreme Court acquittal over data snooping surprises former deputy mayor

Two former Viborg Municipality employees were acquitted of abuse of office after making hundreds of unauthorised searches of residents’ personal information, a ruling that has surprised former deputy mayor Mads Panny. DR reported the decision on Wednesday.

Panny, a Social Democrat and current member of the municipal council, was among those whose information was searched. “I am a little surprised that snooping through the personal information of hundreds of people in this way is not a criminal offence,” he said.

The women made 241 and 80 unauthorised searches, respectively, in the municipality’s data system. They looked up information about celebrities, colleagues and acquaintances, including names, addresses, personal identification numbers, ages and marital status. Both admitted making the searches and said they had acted out of curiosity. They have since been dismissed.

The Supreme Court found that the conduct amounted to less serious breaches of employment duties and did not meet the threshold for abuse of office under the relevant section of the Criminal Code.

Sten Bønsing, a professor of administrative law at Aalborg University, said the court had taken into account that the information was not shared or misused and was relatively ordinary in nature. He said the outcome might have been different if prosecutors had also brought the case under data protection rules, including the General Data Protection Regulation.

The searches were discovered during a spot check in 2023, after which the municipality reported the employees to police. The municipality’s director of employment, finance and personnel, Klaus Christiansen, said it had put the case behind it. Panny also said he did not expect to pursue it further.