DSI imposes largest fine in Latvian history
At the end of last year, information was published that the Data State Inspectorate (DSI) has applied the largest fine so far for data protection violations in the amount of EUR 150,000 on an internet shop for unlawful data processing that failed to observe the fundamental principles of data processing and data subjects’ rights. A complaint was received about potential offences from a resident of Spain. The company’s name has not been disclosed; however, the DSI director informed the media that the matter related to an international investigation.
DSI publishes opinion about data disclosure on the Company Register
Due to interest expressed by the public regarding data disclosure on the Latvian Company Register and questions received about potentially unlawful data processing on the website https://info.ur.gov.lv/, the DSI prepared an opinion on the lawfulness of this data processing.
The Inspectorate concludes that information listed in the law On the Company Register of the Republic of Latvia is public because the legislator wanted to ensure a resource for Latvian residents to obtain credible information about their business partners’ ability to adopt decisions. In addition, the transparency of this system serves to decrease potential fraudulent activities and thus enables compliance with the requirement of the Money Laundering and Proliferation Financing Prevention Law to find out the client’s beneficial owner. The Inspectorate indicates that the purpose of processing the information included in the register is provision of information about a legal entity whose officials’ right to a private life is less protected than the rights of persons who are not officials.
New director for Latvian DSI
On February 2020 Jekaterina Macuka was appointed as DSI Director; previously, she worked as an advisor in the Ministry of Justice on data protection matters. The selection required three stages, as 18 candidates had initially applied for the DSI Director’s position.
